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Book __^lV-0 ^- 

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THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM AND 
SOCIAL REFORM 



First Edition . 
Second Edition 
Third Edition 
Fourth Edition 
Fifth Edition 
Sixth Edition 
Seventh Edition 



April 1899 
May 1899 
May 1899 
June 1899 
August 1899 
November 1899 
June 1900 



THE 

TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

AND 

SOCIAL REFORM 



By JOSEPH ROWNTREE 

II 

AUTHOR OF "temperance LEGISLATION," "a NEGLECTED 

ASPECT OF THE TEMPERANCE 

QUESTION," ETC 

AND ARTHUR SHERWELL 

AUTHOR OF "life IN WEST LONDON," ETC 



SEVENTH EDITION 



REVISED AND ENLARGED 



NEW YORK 
TRUSLOVE HANSON AND COMBA 

67 F I F T H A \' E N U E 
1900 



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Butler 6-- Tanner The Seh'j?od Printhiz Works Frome and London 



AUTHORS' NOTE 

The writers gratefully acknowledge the assist- 
ance they have received from numerous friends 
and correspondents in this country, the United 
States, Denmark, Sweden and Norway, who have 
helped them with information, opinions and 
criticisms. They also wish to acknowledge the 
unfailing courtesy which they received from 
public officials and others in the course of per- 
sonal investigations made in Sweden and Nor- 
way in 1898, and in the United States and 
Canada in 1899. 

They are further indebted for much valuable 
information to the Annual Return of Alcoholic 
Beverages, published by the Commercial Depart- 
ment of the Board of Trade. 



Preface to the Seventh Edition 

IN this edition the statistical and other information 
has, so far as possible, been brought down to the 
present time, and, in response to suggestions that 
have been made, a new chapter has been added which 
deals with the working of Local Option in the various 
States of the American Union, and in some other 
countries. 

One of the present writers visited the United States 
and Canada last year (1899) for the purpose of examin- 
ing, upon the spot, the operation of the more important 
legislative experiments there in force for the regulation 
or suppression of the drink trade. He observed the 
working of Local Option in Massachusetts, Connecticut, 
and Canada ; High Licence in the State of New York, 
and the Dispensary System in South Carolina. He 
also made a careful study of Prohibition in the States 
of Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire. The present 
edition embodies much of the information thus ob- 
tained. 

Personal examination confirmed the statements 
made in former editions of this book as to the working 
of these different systems. But inasmuch as the 
literature upon the operation of the Prohibition laws 



viii PREFACE TO THE SEVENTH EDITION 

ceases at or about the year 1893, the opportunity has 
been taken to bring the information down to date. 

The new evidence, it will be seen, includes maps 
of six Prohibition towns, including the three largest 
towns in Maine and the two largest towns in New 
Hampshire, showing in each case the number, position, 
and character of the places where drink is regularly 
on sale, while typical photographs of the exteriors and 
interiors of the saloons are also supplied. If, as the 
present writers believe, the evidence now given is 
decisive as to the non-existence of Prohibition, apart 
from the Statute book, in the urban centres of the 
Prohibition States investigated, a question of great 
interest arises as to the real significance of the fact. 

It is sometimes said that as the policy of State Pro- 
hibition finds small support in this country, where the 
proposal is chiefly one for Local Veto, the experience of 
the Prohibition States can be of little value to us. 
The practical and all-important lessons which may be 
gathered from the experience of the Prohibition States 
are, however, as we proceed to show, unaffected by this 
difference. A study of temperance legislation in the 
United States brings out two striking facts. On the 
one hand is seen the gradual abandonment of State 
Prohibition and the non-enforcement of its provisions 
in the cities in which it nominally remains in force. 
On the other hand we see the rapid extension of some 
form of Local Option — its adoption being attended 
with a large measure of success. 

Why is State Prohibition being abandoned while 
Local Option is so widely accepted ? 



PREFACE TO THE SEVENTH EDITION ix 

The full answer to this question has probably as 
much significance for us as for the people in the 
United States. One reason why State Prohibition has 
broken down is because under it a prohibitory policy 
may be imposed upon a reluctant community, — a 
contingency less likely to occur under Local Option. 

But this explanation only throws the question one 
step further back. The crucial and, ultimate question 
is this : What are the communities that are unwilling 
to accept Prohibition ? There can be no doubt as to 
the reply. It is the populous urban centres. 

The facts presented in the new chapter on Local 
Option bring out this point with remarkable clearness. 
Local Option is relatively successful because its appli- 
cation, in the form of prohibition, has been, with few 
exceptions, confined to rural districts or to small urban 
populations. The apparent exceptions to this rule — a 
rule which appears to be of almost universal applica- 
tion not only in America, but throughout other lands 
— are, when examined, found to confirm it. The 
public-house can be successfully suppressed in a ward 
or suburb of a town when there is in the near neigh- 
bourhood of the prohibition area what in this volume 
is called a '' safety-valve." The officials of the 
Massachusetts Total Abstinence Society, for example, 
clearly recognise that it is the close proximity of 
Boston which makes Prohibition possible in its subur- 
ban towns, such as Cambridge, Somerville, Chelsea, 
etc. 

What then is the bearing of these facts upon the 
policy of Local Veto as advocated in this country ? 



X PREFACE TO THE SEVENTH EDITION 

If the sphere of its successful operation is likely to be 
substantially the same as that of Local Option in the 
States,^ the answer is clear, that in the United King- 
dom Local Veto will probably be adopted with success 
in many rural districts, in some small towns, and in the 
wards and suburbs of certain cities, but that there is 
no probability of its being generally apphed to the great 
urban centres within any period which practical re- 
formers will care to contemplate. Experience alone 
can determine the exact sphere of its operation in this 
country, and no legislative limit should be placed upon 
its application. Definite results will be most quickly 
reached by giving full liberty to localities to test the 
question for themselves. But while there may be a 
border region between the rural districts and the larger 
towns in which it may be impossible beforehand to 
draw the line marking the limits beyond which Local 
Veto will not succeed, the evidence from the United 
States, and from other countries, appears to be decisive 
that Local Veto will not solve the problem of intem- 
perance in the great urban centres. 

If, then, at the present stage of social evolution. 
Prohibition is impossible in the large towns, nothing 

* Some writers _ have urged tliat prohibitory legislation in 
cities would be more likely to answer in tbe United Kingdom 
tban in America. There seems, however, to be little ground for 
this view. It is to be noted that temperance sentiment is much 
more advanced in the United States than in this country, that 
the per capita consumption of alcohol in the States is little 
more than one-half of ours, and that the Americans have shown 
themselves more willing than ourselves to adopt stringent 
temperance legislation. 



PREFACE TO THE SEVENTH EDITION xi 

but disappointment and arrest of progress can result 
from any policy which, ignoring the fact, fails to 
adapt remedial agencies to actual existing conditions. 
The present writers are convinced that, in the interests 
of temperance reform, an important step will have 
been taken when the true sphere of Local Option has 
been clearly established. It is for this reason that so 
much space has been given in the present edition to 
the chapters which seek to throw light upon this 
important inquiry. 

May, 1900. 



Preface to the First Edition 

THE primary object of this volume is to consider 
the question of Temperance legislation in its 
relation to the general social problem. It will be 
the purpose of the early pages to answer some of the 
questions which at the outset confront any inquirer 
who seeks to obtain a true insight into the Temperance 
problem, e.g. : What is the actual condition of this 
country with regard to intemperance, as compared with 
past years and with other countries ? How does the 
consumption of alcohol in this country compare with 
that of the United States and other English-speaking 
lands ? What is the effect of climate upon drinking 
usages ? Is the per capita consumption of alcohol in 
nations living within certain climatic zones and in 
certain stages of economic progress a constant quantity, 
or is it directly amenable to Temperance teaching and 
to wise and strong public law ? These questions, or 
most of them, admit of explicit answers. But there 
are others of equal importance which open out lines 
of inquiry of great interest, but of greater difficulty. 
What proportion, for instance, of the national drink 

bill of 150 millions belongs to the working classes ? 

What is their average weekly family expenditure 



xiv PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION 

upon drink? And what relation does this drink 
expenditure bear to the average family earnings ? If 
these inquiries cannot be answered with scientific 
accuracy, it is believed that estimates may be given in 
which the margin of possible error is so limited as not 
to affect the practical deductions which the figures 
suggest. Whether the larger or the smaller of any 
careful estimates be accepted, the proportion of the 
family earnings expended upon drink is so great as 
necessarily to affect the whole conditions of life, and 
the possibilities of achieving a higher civilization. 

The present writers are fully conscious that Temper- 
ance is no universal panacea. There are pressing 
economic questions which it cannot solve. But they 
hold that apart from Temperance the social problem 
will remain insoluble. For surely intelligence, fore- 
thought, and self-restraint on the part of the people 
themselves are essential factors in all social reform. 
The greatest of all needs in the struggle for progress 
is the need of strong men in the people's ranks. 

No attempt is made in this volume to discuss physio- 
logical questions relating to the place and effect of 
alcohol. The writers base their proposals upon the 
broad and indisputable positions, that the present con- 
sumption of alcohol in this country is excessive, and 
ought to be reduced ; and that the force of law and of 
local arrangement should favour sobriety rather than 
intemperance. 

The experience to be gained from other countries 
forms the subject of one section of this work, in which 
important legislative experiments made on the Conti- 



PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION xv 

nent of Europe and in the United States are reviewed. 
Happily, in some cases the experiments have been con- 
ducted for a sufHcient length of time to enable the 
results to be accurately measured, and the experience 
so gained is of great value. The failures are perhaps 
as instructive as the successes. We know far better 
than we did fifty years ago what is and what is not 
possible. 

The inquiry here attempted resolves itself, finally, 
into two main questions : What in this age and in this 
country are the causes which create intemperance? 
and what are the influences which can be brought to 
bear in counteracting it ? In the consideration of the 
first of these questions, the present writers have not 
been unmindful of the effect of climate, of race, of 
heredity, of drinking usages, of the character of the 
liquor consumed, of the absence of facilities for 
healthful recreation, and of the combined and power- 
ful influence of past and of existing laws. They have 
sought also, as a matter of the first moment, to 
present a true picture of the conditions under which 
vast numbers of our countrymen live. Without a 
vivid realization of these conditions it is easy to 
ignore many of the elements of fascination in the 
public-house, and to overlook agencies which must be 
brought into play to counteract its influence. 

The agencies which make for Temperance fall into 
two main divisions — those which are of a restrictive or 
controlling character, and those which seek to dry up 
the springs from which intemperance flows. For the 
sake of convenience they may be spoken of as the 



xvi PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION 

"restrictive" and the "constructive" agencies. To 
tlie former class belong such measures as a reduction 
by statute in the number of licensed houses, and a 
shortening of the hours of sale. The importance of 
proposals of this kind has received general acceptance. 
But far less thought has hitherto been given to the 
provision of constructive agencies. It is true that the 
Temperance value of all elevating influences, such as 
education, has been recognised, and there have been 
both personal and associated efforts to provide better 
recreation than that which the public-house offers. 
But the question in its wider aspects has not yet been 
taken up as a matter of high national concern, too 
vast and too important to be left to private enter- 
prise. 

In making proposals for Temperance legislation, it 
would be foolish to ignore the enormous strength of 
the liquor trade, the magnitude of its vested interests, 
and the degree in which these interests permeate 
British society. "Were it not that moral forces are 
ultimately stronger than selfish interests, one might 
despair of success. But the time when the moral 
forces shall assert their supremacy will depend upon 
the practical wisdom, as well as upon the zeal, of the 
friends of Temperance. Union is essential to success, 
and the help of all possible allies must be secured. 
This proposition may seem elementary and self- 
evident, but it is one that has hitherto had little place 
in the councils of the Temperance party. To give only 
one illustration. It has been shown that the agencies 
which make for Temperance must be both restrictive 



PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION xvii 

and constructive. These agencies often appeal to 
different orders of mind. Broadly, the restrictive 
agencies appeal most strongly to those who are 
occupied with direct Temperance work ; while the con- 
structive agencies hold the first place with those who 
are concerned with the wider aspects of society as 
a whole, the general conditions of city life, the 
wretchedness of the highly-rented room, and the 
dreariness of existence to multitudes of workers. 
Both classes of agencies are essential to success, but 
hitherto the representatives of the two schools have 
failed to unite. Now it requires no special gift of 
reasonableness for those who value the restrictive 
agencies to agree among themselves, nor for those who 
value the constructive agencies to agree among them- 
selves. But what is now wanted is the wider outlook, 
the statesmanship quick to discern the full strength 
of the forces which may be marshalled on the side of 
Temperance, and the practical sagacity to bring about 
a working union. A just appeal may be made to both 
bodies of reformers to unite for a common end. To 
those who place their confidence in restrictive agencies 
it may be pointed out that even if these were enacted 
to an extent beyond anything that appears probable 
in the near future, there must still remain a great 
volume of trade outside the reach of these restrictions. 
This will be especially the case in the large towns, 
where the trade, if carried on as at present, will con- 
tinue to be disastrous to the public weal. A scheme 
of policy which makes no allowance for this covers 
only a portion of the ground, and obviously needs to be 

b 



xviii PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION 

supplemented. Those, on the other hand, who attach 
little value to restrictive agencies may be reminded 
that public opinion has rejected the theory of free 
licensing, that some restriction is universally held 
to be necessary, that the sphere of wise restriction 
cannot be determined by a priori considerations, but 
must be arrived at by experience, and that definite 
results will be reached the most quickly by giving 
large liberty to the localities to carry out experi- 
ments. 

It is now twenty-eight years since Mr. Bruce, on 
behalf of the Government of which he was a member, 
brought forward a comprehensive measure of licensing 
reform. It may be assumed that the Ministry of that 
day recognised the need for such legislation, and 
deemed that the country was prepared to accept it. 
But the Bill failed to become law, and, in the period 
that has since elapsed, the growing Temperance senti- 
ment of the country has been unable to do more than 
secure the adoption of minor reforms. Are these 
years in the wilderness to be indefinitely prolonged, or 
may not the hope be entertained that the different 
sections of the Temperance party, and all who are 
anxious to stay the plague of drunkenness, will hence- 
forth seek for grounds of united action, and by honour- 
able co-operation and wise compromise obtain a general 
advance upon the lines of progress ? 

In the suggestions they have made, the writers have 
not included many minor reforms which rightly 
receive support, believing that, whilst the Temperance 
party should continue to press for these, the urgent 



PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION xix 

need of tlie present time is to secure legislation which 
will give full opportunity for the progressive appli- 
cation of Temperance sentiment to the varied needs of 
localities in accordance with local public opinion. If 
communities possessed this power, reforms which are 
now long delayed and difficult of realization would 
be accomplished with comparative ease. Progress is 
almost indefinitely retarded when the most forward 
places have to wait for the most backward. ''Bir- 
mingham and Dorset should not be made to walk 
abreast." 

There can be little doubt that if Temperance reform 
is to advance upon the ordinary lines of social 
progress in this country, it must do so by giving the 
localities a large measure of self-government in rela- 
tion to the drink traffic, and, subject to the observance 
of a few conditions to be laid down by Parliament, 
everything is to be gained by the grant of such 
liberty. The public opinion of the large towns, with 
their intelligence and municipal spirit quickened by 
the possession of power to deal effectively with 
intemperance, will shape itself in definite forms. 
But there must be a real liberation of the local 
forces. 

The unreasonable limitations which now curtail the 
power of communities in dealing with the drink 
question must be removed. Public-spirited citizens 
will then find a new field for the fruitful exercise 
of their activities, and the practical sagacity of a 
practical race will be brought freely to bear upon a 
difficult but not insoluble problem. 

March, 1899. 



Contents 

PEEFACE TO THE SEVENTH EDITION . . pages vii-xi 
PREFACE TO THE FIEST EDITION . . pages xiii-xix 

CHAPTER I 
THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 

Growth of Temperance Sentiment and Change in Social 
Customs. Despite this, Consumption of Alcohol in the 
United Kingdom greater than in 1840. Statistics of 
Consumption, 1840-1899. Present per capita Consump- 
tion of Alcohol in the United Kingdom. Expenditure 
upon Alcoholic Drinks in the United Kingdom. Pro- 
portion Spent by "Working Classes. Estimated Weekly 
Drink Expenditure of Working-Class Families. Eco- 
nomic Aspect of the Problem. Intemperance and 
Poverty. Poverty and " Under-Consumption." Re- 
lation of Drink Expenditure to " Efficiency." The Stan- 
dard of Life necessary for Efficiency. Minimum 
Amount of Food required for Efficiency. Non-nutri- 
tion as a Result of Drink Expenditure. Pood only 
one part of the Standard of Life : Cost of Rent, Cloth- 
ing, etc. Inevitable Effect of Drink Expenditure to 
lower the Standard of Life. Industrial Importance 
of this : Relation of Standard of Life to Industrial 
Efficiency. Importance of Question in View of Changes 
in Industrial Competition. Relative Efficiency of 
British and American Workmen. Temperance and 
the Standard of Life : Effect upon Wages. The Com- 
petition of the " Unfit." Intemperate Consumption of 
Alcohol. Importance of distinguishing between "Pro- 
ductive " and " Non-Productive " Expenditure. The 
alleged Loss to the Revenue. The Loss which the 
Community now suffers in respect of Pauperism, Sick- 
ness and Crime. Declarations of Mr. Gladstone, Sir 
xsi 



xxii CONTENTS 

StaiFord Northcote, etc. Consumption of Alcohol in 
the United States : Comparison with United Kingdom. 
Influence of Climate in determining Consumption of 
Alcohol. Consumption of Absolute Alcohol in (a) the 
Principal European Countries and (6) the British Colonies, 
Compared with the United Kingdom. Number of 
Licensed Premises in the United Kingdom: (a) England 
and Wales; (&) Scotland; (c) Ireland. Increased Size 
of Public-houses. Prevalence of Drunkenness. Geo- 
graphical Distribution of Drunkenness. Intemperance 
among Women pages 1-87 

CHAPTER II 

THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL MENACE 

Wealth and Eesources of the Liquor Trade. Effect of the 
recent wide adoption of the Limited Company System 
in Increasing the Number of " Vested Interests." Or- 
ganized Efforts of the Trade to Influence Parliamentary 
and Municipal Elections: Extent and Methods of Or- 
ganization. Attitude of Members of Parliament 
towards the " Trade " as Classified by the Official Trade 
Journals. Direct Effect of the Trade Organization 
upon Parliamentary E,epresentation : Estimated Po- 
litical Influence of the Trade in the General Elections of 
(a) 1895 and (6) 1892. Influence of Trade in Municipal 
and other Elections. The Effort of the Trade to 
Obtain Control of the Sources of Power likely to In- 
crease. Question Awaiting Solution is : How to 
Dissociate Politics from the Sale of Alcoholic 
Drinks pages 88-114 

CHAPTER III 

STATE PEOHIBITION 

The Limits of Individual Freedom according to John Stuart 
Mill and Immanuel Kant. Prohibition in the United 
States : Nature and History of. Success in Sparsely 
Populated States : Relation of Success to Density of 
Population. Prohibition in Maine : History of. 
General Results of the Law. Federal Liquor Li- 
cences. Portland: non-enforcement in. Number of 
Liquor Saloons in Portland. Wholesale Liquor Traffic. 
Liquor Bottling Factories. Wholesale Drug Stores. 



CONTENTS xxiii 

Eetail Liquor Traffic in Portland. Saloons. Eetail 
Drug Stores. " Kitchen Bars." The State Liquor 
Agency. Portland City Liquor Agency. Importations. 
Quantity of Liquor consumed in Portland. Prevalence 
of Drunkenness. Administration of the Law. Seizures 
of Liquor. Present condition of things not exceptional. 
Lewiston. Number of Saloons in Lewiston. Bangor. 
Number of Saloons in Bangor. Biddeford. Number of 
Saloons in Biddeford. Augusta. Number of Saloons in 
Augusta. Bath. Rockland. Waterville. Gardiner. 
Towns of from 3,500 to 8,000 inhabitants. Towns 
of less than 3,500 inhabitants. Success in Rural 
Districts. Failure in the Towns. Prohibition in 
New Hampshire. Manchester. Number of Saloons m 
Manchester. General Regulations. Financial Results. 
Nashua : Number of Saloons in. Concord. Dover. Ports- 
mouth. Towns of from 3,500 to 8,000 inhabitants. Towns 
of from 1,000 to 3,500 inhabitants. Prohibition in 
Vermont. Burlington. Rutland. Towns of from 3,500 
to 8,000 inhabitants. Prohibition in Kansas. Kansas 
City. Topeka. Wichita. Leavenworth. Success in 
the Rural Districts of Kansas. Number of Federal 
Liquor Taxpayers in Kansas. Prohibition in North 
Dakota. The Causes of Failure. The true significance 
of the Vote in favour of Prohibition. The Voting in the 
Towns of Maine. Effect of Prohibition in Degrading 
the Liquor Traffic. The alleged " Relative " Character 
of the Failure. City Government in America and in the 
United Kingdom. Injury to Temperance and morals. Re- 
action against State Prohibition. The Failure of Pro- 
hibition in the Towns important to us in England. 
Density of Population in Prohibition States and Eng- 
land and Wales compared .... jgages 115-249 



CHAPTER IV 
LOCAL OPTION 

Growing acceptance of principle. 

United States. 
Local Option in. Extent of. Character of. Sphere of its 
Success. Classification of States according to Recognition 
of Principle. Group I. : States in which all Localities, 
whether Urban or Rural, have the rigM of Direct Popular 
Veto. Extent to which the right of Veto exercised in each 



xxiv CONTENTS 

state. Arkansas. Connecticut. Tlorida. Georgia. Ken- 
tucky. Louisiana. Massachusetts. Michigan. Mississippi. 
Missouri. Montana. North Carolina. Rhode Island. 
South Dakota. Texas. Virginia. Wisconsin. Conclu- 
sion as to Group I.: the experiment essentially a rural 
experiment. Success within the limits in which applied. 
Group II. : States in which local option by direct popular 
vote applicable to special localities and rural districts 
only. Extent to which veto exercised in each State in 
Group. Alabama. Illinois. Maryland. Minnesota. 
New York. Ohio. Group III. : Indirect popular control. 
States where control of the traffic is in the hands of 
municipal councils, etc. Powers not essentially different 
from those which already exist in Scotland. Extent to 
which used in each State in Group. California. Colorado. 
Delaware. Nebraska. New Jersey. Utah. Washing- 
ton. West Virginia. Wyoming. Group IV.: States in 
which a right of " Remonstrance," etc., exists against the 
issue of Licences. Extent to which exercised. District 
of Columbia. Indiana. Iowa. Oregon. South Carolina. 
The Territories. Conclusion Suggested by Experience of 
foregoing States, that Prohibition finds its successful 
sphere in Rural and Sparsely -Peopled Districts, and 
not, except under special circumstances, in Towns. 
Massachusetts an apparent exception to this. Explained 
by presence of a New Factor. The " Safety- Valve " of 
adjoining Licence Areas. History and Results of Local 
Option in Massachusetts. Extent of Local Prohibition 
in Massachusetts. Case of Cambridge Examined. Somer- 
ville. Chelsea. Pullman. 

Canada. 
Character and Extent of Local Option in. Province of 
Ontario. Province of Quebec. Nova Scotia. Ncav 
Brunswick. Manitoba. Prince Edward Island. British 
Columbia. North-west Territories. Conclusion. Pro- 
hibition in Canada, as elsewhere, practically confined to 
Rural Districts. Result of recent Plebiscite in Canada. 

Australasia (including New Zealand). 

Extent to which right of Local Option recognized in. New 
South Wales. Victoria. Queensland. South Australia. 
Tasmania. Western Australia. New Zealand. Summary 
of Results of Local Option in Australasia. Not led to any 
important results in Prohibition. 



CONTENTS XXV 

United Kingdom. 
Local Veto in. Bessbrook. Toxteth Park, Liverpool. Queen's 

Park, Kensal Green. 
General Conclusion. Successful Operation of a Permissive 
Policy of Prohibition throughout wide districts in the 
United States and Canada. Sphere of its Success uni- 
formly found to be the Rural Districts and certain Sub- 
urban Areas where " Safety- Yalve " exists. Propects of 
Success in this Country pages 250-369 



CHAPTER V 

HIGH LICENCE 
Pennsylvania. 
High Licence in. General Provisions of the Law. Great 
Reduction in the Number of Licensed Premises. Arrests 
for Drunkenness in. Financial Results. Advantages 
claimed for the System. Increase in the Number of un- 
licensed saloons. 

New York State. 

High Licence in. Origin of the " Raines " Law. Provi- 
sions of the Law. Classification of Licences under the 
Law. Licence Fees. Arrests for Drunkenness. Local 
Option Clause. Evasion of Law through " Raines Law 
Hotels." Chattel Mortgages in New York City. Finan- 
cial Results of " Raines " Law. Results of the System. 

Minnesota. 
High Licence in. "Patrol Limit Law" in Minneapolis. 
Limitation of Licences in Minneapolis. Arrests for 
Drunkenness. St. Paul. Evils of High Licence. Pro- 
spects of Success if applied to United Kingdom, pages 370-399 



CHAPTER VI 
THE GOVERNMENT SPIRIT MONOPOLY IN RUSSIA 

History and Character of the Monopoly. Effect in reducing 
Number of Drink Shops. Question of Compensation. 
Effect of Monopoly upon Sale of Beer. Provision of 
Counter Attractions. General Results of the Monopoly. 
Financial Results. Conclusion. 

The Swiss Alcohol Monopoly 2>ages 400-411 



xxvi CONTENTS \ 

CHAPTER VII i 

THE DISPENSARY SYSTEM IN THE : 

UNITED STATES ; 

General Character of. ■ 

The South Carolina State Monopoly. I 
History and Character of the Monopoly. Stringency of the \ 
Regulations. Financial Results. The "Wholesale Trade. 
Reduction in the number of Retail Shops. Beer Dis- •' 
pensaries: History of establishment of. Number of in 
State. Effect of System upon Drunkenness. Right of '• 
Local Veto. History of the Act. The Dispensary Sys- 
tem and Politics. Results of the Monopoly in South j 
Carolina. Comparison with Norwegian System. [ 

North Carolina : 

Adoption of Dispensary System in. History of Experiment. ] 

The System as Adopted in North Carolina an Advance j 

upon that of South Carolina. j 

South Dakota : j 

Dispensary system adopted as part of the State Consti- j 

tution. Power of the Liquor Trade in Preventing Legis- i 

lation. 1 

Georgia and Alabama : i 

Adoption of Dispensary System in. 

Results of the Dispensary System. Investigation by | 

Massachusetts Total Abstinence Society: Summary of \ 

Results pages 412-433 J 

j 

CHAPTER VIII j 

THE COMPANY SYSTEM IN SWEDEN AND ; 
NORWAY 

Sweden. i 

Condition of, During First Half of the Century. Appal- j 

ling Results of Free Distillation and Free Sale. The ] 

Law of 1855, and its Results in the Rural Communes. ; 

The Problem of the Towns. Adoption of the Company "'■ 

System in Gothenburg. Essential Features of the ] 

Company System. Results of the System in Gothen- i 

burg. Reduction in the Number of Licences. Character 1 
of the Drink Shops. Reduction in the Hours of 

Sale. Refusal to Serve Young Persons. Establish- ; 

ment of Eating-houses. Establishment of Reading- | 

i 

I 



CONTENTS xxvii 

rooms. Effect of System upon the Consumption of 
Spirits. Consumption of Beer and its Effect upon 
Drunkenness. Statistics of Drunkenness. Adoption 
of the System in Stockholm. Weak Points in the 
Swedish System. 

Norway. 
Early Temperance History of. Establishment of Company 
System. Consumption of Spirits and Beer in Norway, 
1833-99. Eesults of the System in Bergen. Reduc- 
tion in the Number of Licences. Beduced Hours of 
Sale. Character of the Drink Shops. Hotels and 
Sub-licensing. Special Police Inspection. Provision 
of Waiting-rooms for Workmen. Other Regulations. 
Reduction in the Sale of Spirits. Arrests for Drunken- 
ness. Appropriation of Profits. Reality of the 
Control Exercised by the Companies. Imperfect Adop- 
tion of the System in Christiania. The Law of July 
24th, 1894. Choice of Localities Restricted to Samlag 
or Prohibition. Results of Votes taken under the 
Law. Sudden Decline in the Consumption of Spirits 
in 1896, and Corresponding Increase in the Consump- 
tion of " Laddevin." The Cause and Effects of this. 
New Method of Appropriating Profits of Samlags. Di- 
vorce of the Spirit Traffic from Politics. Attitude of 
the Temperance Party towards the Company System. 
Defects of the Swedish and Norwegian Company System. 
Advantages of the System pages 434-508 



CHAPTER IX 

THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 

Proposals upon which Temperance Workers are Agreed : Re- 
duction in the Number of Licences. Question of Com- 
pensation. Local Veto. Problem of the Towns. 
Alternatives High Licence or Public Control. Ad- 
vantages and Defects of High Licence. Argument for 
the Elimination of Private Profit. Defects of Existing 
System : Private Appropriation of Monopoly Values. 
Great Increase in Value of Licensed Property. Value 
Increased by Refusal of Justices to Grant New Licences. 
Private Interest of Publican Demands Large Sales. 
Evasion of Licensing Laws. Opposition of Liquor 
Trade to Reform. Evils of the Tied House System. 



xxviii CONTENTS 

Satisfactory Temperance Reform Impossible while 
Trade in Private Hands. Principle of Local Control 
Supported by Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Chamberlain, John 
Bright, Sir Wilfrid Lawson, etc. How to Effect 
Local Control. Need for Constructive as well as Con- 
trolling Eeforms. Sordid Conditions of Life for the 
Poor. The Problem of Poverty. The Housing of 
the People. Density of Population in the Towns, 
Overcrowding. Effects of Overcrowding. Con- 
ditions of Employment. Mortality Statistics. Re- 
lation of Conditions of Employment, etc., to Intem- 
perance. The Need for Eecreation. Recommenda- 
tions of Parliamentary Committees since 1834. De- 
ficiency in Present Social Arrangements for Recreation 
of the People. Result of Rapid Growth of Towns. 
Private Philanthropy Inadequate to Meet the Need. 
Bishop of Chester's Proposals. Necessity for Dis- 
sociating Sale of Intoxicants from Places of Amuse- 
ment. A Practical Suggestion. Establishment of 
People's Palaces. Recreative Features : Winter Gar- 
dens ; Concert Rooms ; Reading and Games Rooms. 
Success of People's Palaces in East London and Glas- 
gow. Other Features of People's Palaces : Picture 
Galleries, Arts and Crafts Exhibitions, etc. Popular 
Lectures. Social and Recreative Clubs; Accommoda- 
tion for Sick Benefit Societies, etc. Gymnasia. Temper- 
ance Cafes, etc. Financial Aspects of the Question ; 
Practicability of Scheme. Profits Available from the 
Liquor Traffic. Method of Appropriating Profits. Ap- 
propriation of Surplus Profits. Balance Available for 
Imperial Purposes. Scheme Allows of Utmost Reduc- 
tion of Liquor Traffic. Supervision by a Central 
Authority. Character of the Public - houses that 
would Remain. The Right of Initiative. The Li- 
censing Authority. Summary .... pages 509-604 



CONTENTS xxix 



APPENDICES 

PAGE 

Consumption of Alcohol in the United Kingdom, Europe and 

United States . . . 607 

Consumption of Alcohol in the British Colonies . . . 610 
„ „ Absolute Alcohol in the United Kingdom, 

Europe, and United States 613 

Consumption of Ahsoltde Alcohol in the British Colonies . . 614 

Expenditure upon Alcohol in United Kingdom, 1837-99 . . 615 

;, „ „ by Working Classes in various trades 616 
„ „ „ by Working Classes. Supplementary 

Evidence 617 

Intemperate Consumption of, and Expenditure upon, Alcohol 

in England and Wales 619 

Increased Consumption of Alcohol in France .... 622 

Average Income of Working Classes 623 

Food and Efficiency : Amount and Cost of Food required for 

Efficiency 624 

Eelative Cost of Food in United Kingdom and United States . 635 

Eel at ion of Intemperance to Pauperism 636 

>, „ „ „ Insanity 643 

J, n „ „ Crime 649 

Number and Ratio of Deaths due to Intemperance in England 

and Wales 665 

Number of Licensed Premises in England and Wales . . 667 

„ ,, „ „ „ Scotland 667 

„ „ „ „ „ Ireland . . . . . 668 

„ „ „ ,, „ London and Chief Provincial 

Towns 669 

Value of Licensed Premises in London 671 

Results of Appeals to Quarter Sessions, England and Wales . 675 

„ „ „ „ „ Scotland . . . 675 

Statistics of Drunkenness 676 

„ „ Crime 676 

Intemperance among Women, Prevalence of ... . 677 
Table showing Estimated Influence of Liquor Trade in the 

Parliamentary Elections of 1892 and 1895 . . . .680 

Prohibition : Supplementary Evidence .... 695 

Sweden and Norway : Supplementary Evidence . . 716 

Relation of Overcrowding to Intemperance .... 738 

Attendances at the Gilchrist Lectures 741 

Profits of the Liquor Traffic 743 

Proposals for Hotels, Restaurants, etc 747 

„ „ Clubs 748 



XXX LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



List of Illustrations 



PAGE 



Plate 1. Map showing Number of Public-houses in Central 

London 78a ' 

„ 2. Map showing Geographical Distribution of Drunk- 
enness in England and Wales .... 84a / 

„ 3. Diagram showing Density of Population in Prohi- / 

bition and Non-Prohibition States . . . 122a 

„ 4. Photograph of Saloon in Fore Street, Portland, 

Maine 138a / 

„ 5. Photograph of Bar in one of the Principal Hotels 

in Portland, Maine 140a ' 

„ 6. Photograph of Saloon in Commercial Street, Port- / 

land, Maine 142a 

,5 7. Map showing the Number and Location of Liquor 

Saloons, etc., in Portland, Maine .... 144a 

„ 8. Photograph (exterior) of Saloon in Portland, Maine 146a 

„ 9. Photograph of Saloon in Center Street, Portland, 

Maine 150a 

„ 10. Photograph (exterior) of Saloon in Commercial > 

Street, Portland, Maine 154a ^ 

„ 11. Photograph of Saloon in Commercial Street, Port- y 

land, Maine 158a ^ 

„ 12. Photographic Eeproduction of a page of the Port- 
land Advertiser^ showing Particulars of 234 In- 
dictments against 159 Liquor-Sellers in Portland, / 
Maine 164a i 

„ 13. Map showing the Number and Location of Liquor 

Saloons, etc., in Lewiston, Maine .... 190a 

„ 14. Map showing the Number and Location of Liquor 

Saloons, etc., in Bangor, Maine .... 194a 

„ 15. Map showing the Number and Location of Liquor / 

Saloons, etc., in Waterville, Maine . . . 206a ■ 

„ 16. Map showing the Number and Location of Liquor 

Saloons, etc., in Manchester, New Hampshire . 218a 

„ 17. Map showing the Number and Location of Liquor 

Saloons, etc., in Nashua, New Hampshire . . 220a ' 

„ 18. Diagram showing Density of Population in Prohi- 
bition States and in England and Wales . . 248a--.' 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xxxi 

PAGE 

Plate 19. Map showing the Extent and Character of Local 

Option in the United States 252a. 

„ 20. Map showing the Position of " Licence " and " No 

Licence" Towns and Cities in the Vicinity of 

Boston, Massachusetts 316a 

„ 21. Photograph of a Bolag Spirit-bar in Gothenburg, 

Sweden 452a 

„ 22. Photograph of a Samlag Spirit-bar in Bergen, Nor- y 

way 480a / 

„ 23. Photograph of the " Masonic Hotel " (Liverpool) . 516a 
„ 24. Photograph of " The Crooked Billet" (Newcastle- 

on-Tyne) 518a 

„ 25. Photograph of " The Ord Arms " (Newcastle-on- 

Tyne) 520a 

„ 26. Diagram showing the Density of Population in 

certain London Parishes 552a 



CHAPTER I 

The Statement of the Problem 



T 



movement in society which history perhaps 
will be summoned to record is that which, in our 
own days, has applied itself to the abatement of 
intemperance." 

The movement of which De Quincey thus wrote 
originated in 1826. From very small beginnings it 
has grown during seventy years to its present magni- 
tude. No other social propaganda of the century has 
called forth so much unselfish effort, or enlisted so 
numerous a body of workers. The meetings for the 
promotion of Temperance held every week throughout 
the United Kingdom probably exceed the aggregate of 
those for all other social and political objects. 

IN'or has the result in many directions been dispro- 
portionate to the efforts put forth. The change in 
social customs since the hard-drinking days described 
by Sir George 0. Trevelyan, in his Early Historij of 
Charles James Fox^ amounts to a revolution. " These 
were the days . . . when Rigby, the Paymaster 

1 



2 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

of tlie Forces, liad only one merit, tliat he drank fair. 
He used brandy as the rest of the world used small 
beer. Lord "Weymouth, grandson of Lord Carteret, 
had more than his grandfather's capacity for liquor, 
and a fair portion of his abilities. He constantly 
boozed till daylight, even when a Secretary of State. 
. . . ' They tell me, Sir John,' said Greorge III. 
to one of his favourites, ' that 3^ou love a glass 
of wine.' ' Those who have so informed your Majesty,' 
was the reply, ' have done me great injustice ; they 
should have said a bottle.' Two of the friends of 
Philip Francis, without any sense of having per- 
formed an exceptional feat, finished between them a 
gallon and a half of champagne and burgundy, a 
debauch which in this unheroic age it almost makes 
one ill to read of." 

Compulsory drinking usages have now been done 
away with. It is evidence of the advance in public 
sentiment on the question that within a recent year ^ 
the Archbishops of Canterbury and York have both 
invited the attention of the clergy to the claims of 
the Temperance movement, while Lord Wolseley, as 
Commander-in-Chief, has published an official Memo- 
randum on the subject to the officers and men in 
the Army. The altered estimate of the physiological 
effect of alcohol is seen in the writings of many 
eminent physicians, as well as in the general usage of 
the medical profession. But the extraordinary fact 
remains that the per capita consumption of alcohol in the 
United Kingdom is greater than it teas in 1840, when 
the Temperance reformation was in its infancy. 

Thus the |;er capita consumption of alcoholic liquor 

* 1897-8. 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM s 

in the United Kingdom in 18-iO, as compared with 
1899, was as follows : — 

1840. 1899. 

(Gallons.) (Gallons.) 

Spirits (Proof) . . . 0-97 . . . 1-09 

AVine 0*25 . . . 041 

Beer 28-59 . . . 32-70 



If the figures are reduced to a basis of Proof Spirit ^ 
(50 per cent, alcohol), the result is as follows : — 

Gallons of Proof Spirife.^ 

1840 per capita consumption .... 3-89 
1899 „ „ .... 4-48 



Or, to adopt a familiar method of comparison, the 
expenditure per head of the population upon alco- 
holic drinks was in 1840, £2 18^. lOcl, and in 1899, 
£3 195. n\d. 

That this increase in consumption is not due to the 
selection of exceptional years will be seen from the 
subjoined table, and by reference to the more detailed 
figures given in the Appendix. 



^ The Spirits (Strength Ascertainment) Act, 1818 (58 Geo. III. 
c. 28), defines " Proof Spirit " to be that which, at a temperature 
of 51°, weighs || parts of an equal measure of distilled water. 
A gallon of proof spirit contains, approximately, 50 per cent, of 
alcohol.—SortrcZ of Trade Eeturii, No. 408 (1897). 

^ The calculation is made on the ordinary basis that "Wine 
contains 30 per cent., and Beer 10 per cent, of Proof Spirit. 



4 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

Equivalent iii 
Years. Proof Spirit.^ 

(Gallons.) 

1841-45 3-36 

1846-50 3-58 

1851-55 3-75 

1856-60 3-56 

1861-65 3-60 

1866-70 4-09 

1871-75 4-78 

1876-80 4-70 

1881-85 ...... 3-90 

1886-^0 3-87 

1891-95 4-08 

1896 4-20 

1897 4-28 

1898 4-35 

1899 4-48 

It will thus be seen that the increase in the per 
capita consumption of alcohol from 1841-45 to 1891-95 
amounted to nearly three-fourths of a gallon of proof 
spirit. The highest figures were reached in 1876 
(when the effects of the great wave of commercial 
prosperity which marked the seventies were at their 
height), when the per capita consumption rose to 4-89 
gallons of proof spirit. AVitli the subsidence of the 
commercial " boom " the consumption at once declined, 
but only to a point that was still slightly above what 
may be called the normal figures of the ante-1870 
period. During the present decade, however, they 
have again steadily risen, until the consumption in 

* The calculation is made on the ordinary basis that Wine 
contains 30 per cent., and Beer 10 per cent, of Proof Sphit. 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 5 

1899 was higher than it had been for a period of 
twenty- one 3^ears. 

But a per cajnfa consumption which is estimated 
upon the basis of the entire population is obviously 
misleading, since it takes no account of (1) the number 
of abstainers, and (2) the number of children. Nor 
does it take into account the difference in the quantity 
of alcohol consumed by women as compared with men. 
In order, therefore, to estimate the per capita con- 
sumption of the actual consumers of alcohol, it will 
be necessary to make allowance for these. It is, un- 
fortunately, impossible to ascertain the exact number 
of adult teetotalers in the United Kingdom ; but 
taking the lowest of the estimates usually given as 
the basis of calculation, it is probably safe to assume 
that the number of the non-drinking class (i e., tee- 
totalers and practical abstainers) in the United King- 
dom above the age of 15 is at least three millions. 
If we add to these the number of children under 
15 years of age, who represent 35 per cent, of the 
entire population, or fourteen million persons, the 
total number of the non-drinlxlng class may be esti- 
mated at seventeen million persons, thus reducing the 
number of actual consumers of alcohol to twenty-three 
millions.^ 

^ Tliis estimate, althougli arrived at independentlj^, is con- 
firmed by an estimate made by Professor Leone Levi in 1872. 
In a paper read before the Roj^al Statistical Society in March of 
that year, Professor Levi estimated the number of consumers 
of alcohol in 1870 at 17,500,000, or 56 per cent, of the total 
population. On this basis of calculation the number of con- 
sumers in 1899 would be 22,713,000, and the per capita con- 
sum]3tion of alcoholic liquors : — ■ 

Beer 58 gallons. 

Spirits 1*96 ,, 

Wine . 0-73 „ 



6 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLE^I 

If, then, we divide the total quantity of intoxicants 
consumed in 1899 by this number, it will be seen that 
the average per cajpifa consumption of intoxicating 
liquors in that year by the actual consumers of alcohol 
was as follows : — 

Beer 57 gallons. 

Spirits .... 1-93 „ 
Wine 0-72 „ 

But it must be remembered that more than one- 
half of the twenty-three millions referred to are 
women, who, it is safe to assume, do not drink on an 
average more than half the quantity consumed by 
men. Allowing for this, the jjer capita consumption 
of the twenty-three millions of actual consumers 
would be as follows : — 

Men. "Women. 

Beer . . 76 gallons . . 38 gallons. 

Spirits . . 2-57 „ . . 1-29 „ 

Wine . . 0-96 „ . . 048 „ 

Even this does not exhaust the significance of the 
figures, for it must be remembered that no allowance 
is made in them for paupers, prisoners, etc. 

If we reduce the per capita consumption, as shown 
above, to a basis of absolute alcohol, the result is as 
under : — 

Absolute Alcohol. 

Men .... 5*22 gallons, or 835 fluid ounces. 
"Women . . . 2-61 „ or 417 „ „ 

This gives a daily average of 2*29 flixid ounces of 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 7 

absolute alcohol for every male cousiimer, and ll-i 
fluid ounces for every female consumer — a quantity 
that is clearly greatly excessive.^ 

Expenditure upon Drink. 

It is not here proposed to discuss the physiological 
aspect of the Temperance question, but the figures of 
alcohol consumption have a grave economic import- 
ance which no student of social and economic questions 
can afford to ignore. 

In 1899, for example, the total expenditure on 
alcoholic beverages in the United Kingdom amounted 
to £162,163,474,^ a sum equal to— 

(1) Nearly one-and-a-half times the amount of the 

national revenue, or 

(2) All the rents of all the houses and farms in the 

United Kingdom. 

^ Dr. Parkes (whom tlie late Sir Andrew Clark once publicly 
referred to as " the most loyal, careful, faithful, and truthful of 
observers whom ever it was my good fortune to know "), in 
referring to experiments made by Drs. Anstie, Wollowicz, and 
himself, says : " It may be considered, then, that the limit of 
the useful effect [i.e. of alcohol] is produced by some quantity 
between one and one-and-a-half fluid ounces in twenty-four 
hours. There may be persons whose bodies can dispose of 
larger quantities ; but as the experiments were made on two 
powerful, healthy men, accustomed to take alcohol, the average 
amount was more likely to be over than under-stated. In 
women, the amount required to produce decided bad effects 
must, in all probability, be less. For children, there is an 
almost universal consent that alcohol is injurious, and the very 
small quantity which produces symptoms of intoxication in 
them indicates that they absorb it rapidly and tolerate it 
badl3^" — A Manual of Practical Hygiene, 8th Edition (1891), 
p. 340. 

* These figures include the expenditure on Britisli wines. 



8 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

It exceeded by more tlian six millions (i.e. £6,169,455) 
the total expenditure on the same beverages in 1898.^ 

The population of the United Kingdom in 1899, 
according to the official estimate, was 40,559,954 per- 
sons, so that the total amount expended on alcoholic 
liquors in that year represents an average expenditure 
of £3 195. ll^d. for each man, woman, and child in 
the kingdom, or £19 19s. d^d. for each family of five 
persons. These averages are, of course, purely arith- 
metical, the actual expenditure, both for individuals 
and families, varying, in the case of consumers, from 
sums relatively small to a large proportion of the 
entire personal or family income, while in the case of 
a considerable proportion of the population {i.e., the 
non-consumers) no expenditure at all was incurred.^ 

The seriousness of the figures becomes more fully 
apparent when we consider them in their relation to 
the working classes. It is impossible, of course, to fix 
precisely the amount spent by the working classes on 
alcoholic drinks, inasmiich as a considerable propor- 
tion of the expsnditure is made from indeterminate 
sources ; i.e., either (1) what is vaguely called " pocket 

cider, etc., whicli in 1899 amounted to £1,500,000. In esti- 
mating the total expenditure, the cost of British spirits has 
been taken at 205. per gallon ; foreign and colonial spirits at 
24s. per gallon ; beer at 54s. per barrel ; and wine at 18s. per 
gallon. See " The Annual Drink Bill," Times, February 27th, 
1900. 

^ The increase in expenditure upon alcoholic liquors in 1899 
was at the rate of about 4 per cent., while the increase in popu- 
lation was under 1 per cent. 

2 If we deduct the non-consuming classes {i.e., children under 
15, and the three millions of non-drinkers above the age of 15), 
the average annual expenditure of the remaining twenty-three 
millions {i.e., the actual consumers) is nearly doubled, amount- 
ing to £7 Is. per individual. 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 9 

money," or (2) money that is intercepted before it 
reaches the home. For this reason, so-called '^ Family 
Budgets" are on this point entirely unreliable and 
misleading. It has, however, been authoritatively 
estimated ^ that of the total sum represented by the 
national drink bill, at least two-thirds are spent by 
the working classes, who constitute, approximately, 
75 per cent, of the population.^ That is to say, of the 
£162,000,000 spent on drink in the United Kingdom 
in 1899, more than £108,000,000 must, according to 
this estimate, have been spent by 30,400,000 persons 
(representing 6,080,000 families) ^ belonging to the 

^ Profesor Leone Levi, Journal of the Statistical Society^ 
March, 1872. This estimate has recently been accepted in a 
statement prepared in the interests of the Trade for the Eoj^al 
Commission on Liquor Licensing Laws (July, 1897), and subse- 
quently published as a pamphlet by Messrs. Peter "Walker & 
Son, of Warrington. See The Fallacies of Teetotalers^ p. 13. 

^ In 1882, a Special Committee of the British Association 
estimated the proportion of the labouring classes at 70 per cent. 
of the population. A similar proportion, based, however, upon 
different figures, is given by Mulhall, Dictionary of Statistics 
p. 320 ; and by Professor Leone Levi, Report of the British As- 
sociation (1883), p. 361 ; s^ndiWages and Earnings of theWorking 
Classes (1885), p. 2. For the purposes of the present discussion, 
however, it will be safer to take the slightly higher estimate 
given above, which more than allows for the relatively gi^ater 
increase of the working classes in the intervening years as com- 
pared with the growth of the population as a whole. 

^ This estimate is based upon a proportion of five persons to 
a family. The proportion in 1891, according to the official cen- 
sus returns, was 4*73. Mulhall {Dictionary of Statistics) esti- 
mated the number of working-class families in 1889 at 4,774,000, 
and Professor Leone Levi (1835) at 5,600,000. The latter esti- 
mate (Professor Levi's) is, however, based upon a proportion of 
4*64 persons to a famil3^ On the basis of five persons chosen 
above, the number of working-class families in 1885, according 
to Professor Leone Levi, would be 5,200,000 — an estimate which 



10 



THE TExMPERANCE PROBLEM 



working classes.^ In otlier words, every working-class 
family spent on an average, in 1899, no less than 
£17 15.5. 3fZ., or Gs. lOd. per week on alcoliolic liquors, 
a sum which (assuming the average income of a 
working-class family to be thirty-five shillings per 
week) - is equal to nearly one-fifth of the entire 
family income. 

These figures, although apparently high, are sup- 
ported by an estimate made by a special Committee 
of the British Association (consisting of Professor 
Leone Levi, Professor Jevons, Sir Antonio Brady, and 
others) in 1882. This Committee, in reporting on 
" the present ApjDropriation of "Wages " and its " con- 
sonance with the economic progress of the people of 
the United Kingdom," distributed the expenditure of 
the population upon intoxicating liquors as follows : — 





Total 
Expenditure. 


Working Classes. 


Middle and Higher 
Classes. ^ 




Per 

Amount. Cent, of 
I Total. 


Amount. 


Per 

Cent.of 
Total. 


Beer . . . 

Spirits . . 
Wine . . . 


£ 
75,000,000 
40,000,000 
9,000,000 


£ 

56,200,000 

30,000,000 

900,000 


75 

75 
10 


£ 

18,800,000 

10,000,000 

8,100,000 


25 

25 
90 




124,000,000 87,100,000 


- 36,900,000 


— 



allowing for the growth of four millions in the population of 
the United Kingdom since 1885, confirms the estimate adopted 
above. 

^ These figures are confirmed by an estimate made by a high 
economic authority in 1877 : " One cannot set the cost of wines, 
ales, and liquors, consumed by the wage-labouring classes of 
Great Britain, lower than £100,000,000 per annum." — AValker 
The Wages Question, p. 350. 

2 See Appendix, p. 623, 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM ii 

Assnmiug the number of working-class families to 
be at that time 5,400,000 — the number adopted by 
the Committee^ — the figures given above would repre- 
sent an average expenditure of £16 2s. 2d. per year, 
or 6s. 2d. per week for each working-class family. 
The Committee further estimated that the total in- 
come of the working classes amounted in 1881-82 to 
£430,000,000, fully one-fifth of which must, therefore, 
according to their estimate, have been spent on intoxi- 
cating drinks. 

In view of the extreme importance of these figures, 
it may be well to compare them with other reliable 
estimates. The most authoritative early estimate on 
the subject is that made by Mr. Dudley Baxter in his 
valuable work on The Taxation of the United King- 
dom. The work was published in 1869, when the ]per 
capita expenditure on drink in the United Kingdom 
was nearly equal to that of the present time, so that 
the figures may fairly be used for the purpose of a 
general comparison. Referring, in the first instance, 
to the drink expenditure of the temperate classes only, 
Mr. Dudley Baxter says : — 

"A temperate town workman^ with £50 to £60 a 
year, will with his wife take 3 glasses a day (1 J pints), 
or (including occasional additions) 75 gallons per 
family per year ; drinking occasionally spirits, say one 
or at most 2 gallons per family per year. This will 
be an expenditure of 2^. or 2,9. Qd. per week, and is in 
addition to Qd. or 1^. on tobacco. 

'' A temperate artizan^ with 35^. to 4:0s. a week, will 

^ This estimate was based upon a proportion of 4*5 persons 
to a farail^^ See lieport of the British Association, 1S82, 
p. 301. 



12 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

drink with his family 3 pints (or 6 glasses) of beer 
per diem, say 150 gallons per family per year, and 
1 to 2 quarterns of spirits a week, or 2 to 4 gallons a 
year. This will represent an expenditure of 4^. 6d. to 
bs. a week, and is commonly in addition to Is. per 
week for tobacco." 

In considering the question of intemperate expendi- 
tures, Mr. Baxter says : — 

^^Intemperate, or excessive expenditures, are far be- 
yond this scale. Half the wages to the man for beer, 
spirits, and tobacco, and the other half to the wife for 
rent, and ' to do for ' the family, is reported by many 
correspondents as not unusual. The Irish spend more 
than the English in proportion to their earnings ; but 
with both English and Irish the Saturday night 
drinking often exhausts the week's wages. And sit- 
tings of two or three days^ duration, which are sadly 
too frequent in some localities, make away with con- 
siderable savings." Summing up the results of his 
investigations, he says : '' On the whole, I should esti- 
mate the temperate expenditure in England as : Upper 
and middle classes, 35 gallons of beer per head ; half a 
gallon of diluted spirits. Manual labour classes, 20 
gallons of beer per head ; half a gallon of diluted 
spirits." ^ If we reckon the cost of beer at Is. 6d. per 
gallon, and the cost of spirits at 20^. per gallon, this 
estimate would represent an average expenditure for 
every temperate working-class family in England and 
Wales of ds. lO^d. per week. This average, however, 
let us repeat, is based upon what Mr. Baxter calls 
" temperate" expenditures only, and does not include 

^ The Taxation of the United Kingdom, pp. 89-91. 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 13 

what he calls '' intemperate or excessive expenditures." 
If allowance be made for these, the average weekly 
expenditure of a working-class family (according to 
Mr. Baxter's own figures) would amount to bs. Q^d. 
per week.^ These figures do not include wine. 

Further support is given to the figures by a state- 
ment made by the late Rt, Hon. A. J. Mundella 
in 1883. In referring — as Vice-President of the 
Council on Education — to certain school-board dis- 
tricts in East London Mr. Mundella said : " Here is 
a block containing 1,082 families and 2,153 children 
of school age (5 to 13). In this block are 3 schools, 
2 churches, 3 chapels, 3 mission rooms, and 41 public- 
houses. "What does it mean ? 1,082 families, wretched, 
miserable, and poverty-stricken, maintaining 41 public- 
houses. 1 to every 25 families, and supported by 
them. Consider what it takes to maintain them, and 
the great cause of misery is apparent. One of my 
inspectors states : ' In a certain square mile of East 
London the cost of education is a penny each family 
per week, and 4^. M. each family for drink.'' Say 4^. 
yearly for education, and £11 for drink." ^ 

An expenditure of 4^. ?>d. per week in a poor district 
certainly seems to suggest that a general average of 
Qs. per week for the whole of the working classes is 
by no means an excessive estimate. 

The present writers have been at considerable pains 
to verify these estimates by independent investiga- 
tions concerning the actual or estimated expenditure 
of working men in various industries in different 
parts of the country. The inquiry was naturally 
a difficult one, and would have been altogether 

^ See Appendix, p. 619. 

^ Sheffield Independent^ December 12tli, 1883. 



14 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

impossible but for the assistance rendered by a large 
number of helpers in different centres. No attempt 
was made to ascertain the family expenditure upon 
drink ; the inquiry being strictly confined to the 
average weekly expenditure of working men above the 
age of eigJifeen. It is not to be assumed that the 
figures are in every case correct. That, it is needless 
to say, is impossible in an investigation of this kind, 
but every endeavour has been made to exclude care- 
less and unreliable returns, and the figures may cer- 
tainly be accepted as an under-statement rather than 
an over-statement of the actual expenditure of working 
men in the industries referred to. 

A single fact will make this plain. Trades and 
industries, like individuals, vary considerably in the 
general standards of sobriety and thrift that they 
require, and similar differences appear as between 
different workshops and factories in the same trade. 
A greater strictness on the part of an employer, or — 
what the present inquiry has shown to be even more 
important in its effects upon the habits of the work- 
people — a special sympathy with the cause of tem- 
perance, tells very powerfully upon the sobriety of a 
workshop, and tends to considerably lessen the average 
expenditure upon drink. 

Now it so happens that of the workshops and 
factories included in the present inquiry, a large 
proportion were of this kind, so that the average 
standard of drink expenditure which the following 
figures represent is probably lower than the average 
for the trade taken as a whole would be. This fact, 
while it makes the returns somewhat less represent- 
ative than they otherwise would be, secures them 
from the risk of over=statement. 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 15 

The inquiry covered 43 general trades, some of 
which had several branches. The total number of 
men reported on was nearly 12,000, but returns were 
rejected in the case of more than 2,000 of these where 
the figures gave evidence of being excessive, or were 
otherwise apparently unreliable. The number of men 
actually included in the subjoined returns was 9,613. 
Of these — 

1,586 or 16|% were returned as abstainers. 

2,944 or 31% spent under 2^. per week. 

2,922 or 30% „ 2s. and under 5^. per week. 

1,459 or 15% „ 5^. „ 10s. „ 
535 or bh% „ 10^. „ 15^. „ 
167 or 2% ,, over 15^. per week. 



9,613 



If we estimate the average expenditure of class ''A" 
(under 2^.) at Is. 6d. ; class '' B " (2s. and under bs.) at 
3^. 6d. ; class '' " (5^. and under 10^.) at 7^. Gd. ; 
class " D " (10s. and under 15^.) at 12^. 6d. ; and class 
" E " (over 15^.) at £1, the average weekly expendi- 
ture of the whole of the 9,613 men included in the 
above returns works out at 3^. 8^d. per head. The 
figures — as will be seen from the particulars given 
elsewhere^ — vary greatly in different trades, while 
the inquiry also showed that the average is far from 
being uniform in the case of different sets of men 
engaged in the same trade. A noteworthy instance 
of this occurred in the case of colliers. The average 
expenditure of 617 colliers reported on was 4^^. l{d.j 
but this total included one group of 307 men whose 

^ See Appendix, p. 61G. 



1 6 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

average weekly expenditure upon drink worked out at 
Is. Hid. per head, and another group of 61 colliers 
whose average expenditure was 2^. lOld, On the 
other hand, it included a group of 152 colliers belong- 
ing to a different part of the country whose average 
weekly expenditu.re amounted to 85. Q^d. per head. 

One of the most remarkable features of the returns 
was the large proportion of men returned as " ab- 
stainers. '^ It is probable that the proportion given 
{i.e. one in six) is greater than the actual proportion 
in the trades concerned, and that many men were so 
returned who should more properly be considered as 
moderate drinkers. But since the only effect of a 
confusion of this kind is slightly to lower the general 
average of ex]3enditure without interfering with its 
general trustworthiness, it need not be here regarded. 

The general results of the inquiry are confirmed by 
a large body of independent evidence which it was 
impossible to tabulate, but which nevertheless was of 
a reliable and representative character. A publican 
in Manchester, when questioned on the point, gave it 
as his opinion that " a working man of ordinary type 
would spend sixpence a day qtcite, say four shillings 
a week " — an estimate that curiously confirms the 
figures given above. A compositor in the Midlands — 
a reliable and capable man — estimated that " sixpence 
a day regular, and a little jollification at holiday times, 
might be put down for sober, steady men who never 
lost time at their work." Another working man — a 
scholar in an adult school in Birmingham — said, " I 
used to spend about half my earnings (28^.) in drink 
and treating — didn't often get drunk." Another said, 
" Five shillings is a big pull out of 30^. or 35^. a week 
for drink, but many a man I know would be well off 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEIM 17 

if lie spent no more than this." A Birmingham 
scavenger said, " Me and my wife and two children 
had tightish work when I spent Gs. or 7^. a week on 
drink out of 24^. I gave it up three years ago." 

The foreman of a railway workshop in the North 
quoted the case of a man known to him for twenty 
years " as a sample of very, very many cases which 
are not extreme — a man who would consider himself 
a ' moderate drinker. ' " The man's wages amounted 
to £2 a week, say £100 per annum, and his expendi- 
ture was as follows : — 

Per annum. 
£ 

Eent (a ilat) 13 

Allowance to wife for food and clothing (supple- 
mented by Co-operative Society dividend, 
which was spent in clothes for wife and two 

children) 52 

Own clothing 5 

Balance (retained) 30 

£100 



Of the £30 retained for personal expenditure, the 
man " sjoends about 10s. a week on drink — the balance 
on other ' pleasures,' horse-racing, etc." 

It would be easy to supplement these cases with 
others equally trustworthy and representative, but it 
is perhaps unnecessary to do so. The following state- 
ment may, however, be quoted as a final confirmation 
of the general accuracy of the estimates already given. 
The statement gives particulars of the average weekly 
drink expenditure of four typical workmen in the 
employ of a large engineering firm in London where 

2 



i8 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

400 men are employed. The particulars are as 
follow : — 

Case ''J.." — Married man, with five children, 

ages ranging from 12 downwards : £> s. d. 

Average weekly wage 2 

Average weekly expenditure on drink 3 

Case " B. " — Married man, with six children, 
ages ranging from 10 downwards : 

Average weekly wage 2 10 

Average weekly expenditure on drink 18 

Case '' C." — Married man, no children : 

Average weekly wage 1 18 

Average weekly expenditure on drink 12 

Case '' D. " — Married man with two children, 
aged 6 years and 18 months respectively : 

Average weekly wage 1 12 

Average weekly expenditure on drink 5 

The above figures were furnished to the present 
writers by a thoroughly competent and trustworthy 
informant, who is himself a non-abstainer and em- 
ployed at the same works. In referring to the figures 
he says : " These four men are fairly representative 
of the 400 ; they are not notorious drunkards by any 
means." He adds : " Looking at the question roughly, 
I think it would be fair to say that the average work- 
ing man spends a little more than a quarter of his 
weekly income on drink." Such an estimate as the 
last words suggest is, of course, only to be accepted as 
a broad generalization based upon observation of a 
limited number of men, but the statement as a whole, 
taken in conjunction with other evidence, undoubtedly 
strengthens a previous impression that the average 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 19 

weekly expenditure of working men on drink is 
greater than the average of 3^. 8|f?. suggested by the 
returns given on a previous page.^ 

But accepting the figures as they stand, it is clear 
that they go far to confirm the estimate of 6s. 2d. 
per family adopted by the Committee of the British 
Association in 1882. The average of 35. S\d.^ it is to 
be remembered, represents a per capita expenditure 
only, the inquiry being restricted to the personal ex- 
penditure (as distinct from the family expenditure) of 
working men above the age of eighteen. If to this 
personal expenditure could be added that of the other 
members of the family, it is improbable that the result 
would be less than Qs. per week per family. 

It must also be remembered that the 9,613 adult 
males whose expenditures are included in the average 
of 3^. S\d, do not represent 9,613 separate families. 
Only a certain proportion of them would be heads of 
families. A considerable number would undoubtedly 
be members of the same families (i.e., sons or brothers), 
or single men representing families the heads of 
which would be employed elsewhere, and for whom, 
therefore, an additional sum of 3^. S\d. would have to 
be allowed before the family expenditure could be 
ascertained. In other words, since the average of 
3.9. S\d. is a personal average only, and represents 
simply the expenditure of a male adult, whether single 
or married, it would be necessary in order to ascertain 
the drink expenditure of an average working-class 
family to allow 3.9. S^d. for each male adult above 
eighteen years of age living at home, and to add the 
result to the cost of the drink consumed by the wife 
and children {i.e. all the daughters and such of the 
' See p. 15. 



20 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

sons as were below tlie age of eighteen). In tlie case 
of a famil}^, for examjDle, whicli included both the 
father and one son of over eighteen years of age, the 
weekly drink expenditure would be 7s. bd., plus the 
cost of the drink consumed by the wife and the rest of 
the children living at home. 

Such figures, it is needless to say, have only an ap- 
proximate value, and are not to be pressed too far. 
Moreover, in attempting to apply them to individual 
cases it is necessary to remember that they are average 
figures based upon the expenditure of a considerable 
number of families. That a large proportion of the 
working classes spend very much less than the amount 
suggested is certain, but it is equally certain that a 
considerable number spend very much more, and when 
all possible deductions have been made it is doubtful 
if the average family expenditure of the working 
classes upon intoxicants can be reckoned at less than 
6s. per week. ^ 

The Ecoxomic Aspect oe the Peoblem. 

The economic seriousness of these figures, even if they 
are but approximately correct, can hardly be exagger- 
ated in view of the grave social problems that still 
await solution, for it is important to remember that 
alcoholic drinks have no true or necessary relation to 
what is called the standard of life. That is to say, 
they do not belong to the category of commodities 
which are necessary for the real efficiency of human 
life. On the contrary — among the lowest paid workers 
at least — they can only be purchased at the cost of 
efficient necessaries.^ 

^ For further evidence on this point, see Appendix, p. 617. 
^ For a fuller discussion of this point, see p. 53. 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 21 

Dr. E. E. L. Gould, the Special Commissioner of tlie 
United States Labour Department, in referring to this 
point, says : " The danger resident in these huge 
national liquor bills reaches beyond misery and moral 
degradation. Civilization itself is menaced by this 
growing economic waste. If it be true — and there 
seems to a general opinion to that effect — that excesses 
are less frequent now than formerly amongst the 
upper classes, the burden must be falling chiefly upon 
those who are relatively least able to support it. 
Certainly, the family budget of the wage-earner is not 
so flexible that liberal expenditures for drink may be 
made with impunity. So delicately adjusted is the 
balance that the status of a new generation is largely 
determined by the quantity of liquor the fathers con- 
sume. . . . Even those — and they are many — who 
cannot regard total abstinence as the last word on the 
subject, and must hold that drunkenness rather than 
drinking is the real foe to be combated, will neverthe- 
less allow that there is ample room for reduction, and, 
so to speak, redistribution of expenditure." ^ 

The matter becomes of urgent importance when we 
remember how many of those upon whose efficiency 
the industrial prosperity of the nation ultimately 
depends are still below the " economical limit of sub- 
sistence." " Progress," says Professor Marshall, " has 
done much ; but there still remains a great, and — in 
consequence of improved sanitation — perhaps a grow- 
ing residuum of persons who are ph^^sically, mentally, 
or morally incapable of doing a good day's work with 
which to earn a good day's wage." - That '' a large 
portion of the wage-earning class are kept below the 

^ Popular Control of the Liquor Traffic^ p. 9. 
^ Principles of Economics ^ 2nd Edition, p. 737. 



22 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

economical limit of subsistence," says another eminent 
economist/ " there can be no doubt." 

It is impossible to estimate, even approximately, the 
number of these ; but if we may judge from the con- 
dition of things in London, where nearly one and a 
third millions of persons^ or 30-7 per cent, of the entire 
population are "in poverty,"^ the aggregate propor- 
tion for the kingdom as a whole must be very con- 
siderable. The poverty of London is certainly in some 
respects exceptional, but " there is every reason to 
believe that the extent and nature of poverty does not 
widely differ in all large centres of population." ^ 



Intempeeance and Poverty. 

Now it would be foolish to suggest that intemper- 
ance is the sole, or even — to speak for the moment 
of direct causes only — the preponderating cause of 
poverty. On the contrary, it is unquestionable that 
to a large extent poverty is to be regarded as an in- 
dustrial disease — the result of conditions and forces 

^ F. A. Walker, The Wages Question, p. 56. 

2 Booth, Life and Labour of the People, vol. II., p. 21. 

The classification of these 1,300,000 persons is as follows : — 

37,610 form the "lowest class" — occasional labourers, 
loafers and semi-criminals. 

316,834 form the " verj^ poor " — casual labour, hand-to-mouth 
existence, chronic want. 

938,293 form the " poor " — including alike those whose earn- 
ings are small because of irregularity of emplo}^- 
ment, and those whose work, though regular, is 
ill-paid. 



1,292,737 

^ Hobsou, Problems of Poverty, p. 6'i 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 






over which the workers have Httle control ; while it is 
hardly less certain that of the intemperance that is 
found in intimate conjunction with poverty, a not 
inconsiderable proportion must be assumed to be the 
effect rather than the cause of the poverty.^ 

But when all legitimate deductions have been made, 
the relation between the two problems is too obvious 
to be seriously disputed. 

Mr. Charles Booth, whose Life and Labour of the 
People in London forms the most complete analysis of 
the facts of poverty that has yet been attempted, has 
done more than any one to reduce the question under 
discussion to a scientific basis, and to make an ultimate 
decision upon it at least approximately safe. It would 
not be wise, as Mr. Booth himself admits, '' to general- 
ize very confidently from an analysis of this sort, 
unless it can be supported by other evidence." His 
figures have, however, statistically one great element 
of value. They are " representative of all the poor in 
the districts from which they are drawn, and not only 
of those who apply for relief." 

The figures he gives relate altogether to some 
4,000 cases, 1,600 of which belonged to classes A and B^ 



* It must not, however, be overlooked that while intemper- 
ance is sometimes an effect, as well as a cause, of poverty, it is 
a reproductive effect, which by demoralizing the worker still 
further destroys his industrial efHciency, and, as a necessary 
consequence, seriously' aggravates the problem to be solved. 
The helpless despair of a sober poverty is unutterably sad, but 
it is not hopeless ; but a poverty that deadens despair in drink 
creates for the statesman an almost insoluble problem. 

^ Class " A " represents the lowest class of occasioflial 
labourers, loafers, and semi-criminals. 

Class "B" represents the " very poor," /.e., those who live 
in a state of chronic want. 



M THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEAt 

(the ^' very poor "), and 2,400 to classes C and D ^ (the 
" poor "). 

Of the former (e.e., the cases of the '' very poor") : — 
4 per cent, were ''loafers." 
14 per cent, were attributable to drink and thrif t- 

lessness. 
27 per cent, were attributable to '' questions of 
circumstance " (i.e., large families, illness, 
etc.). 
55 per cent, were attributable to " questions of 
employment." 

Of the latter (i.e., the cases of the •• poor ") : — 

13 per cent, were attributable to drink and thrift- 

lessness. 
19 per cent, were attributable to ^* questions of 

circumstance." 
68 per cent, were attributable to " questions of 

employment." 

In his comment upon the figures, Mr. Booth says : 
'• To those who look upon drink as the source of all 
evil, the position it here holds as accounting for only 
14 per cent, of the poverty in the East End may 
seem altogether insufficient ; but I may remind them 
that it is only as principal cause that it is here con- 
sidered ; as contributory cause it would no dovibt be 

/ Together the " poor," ?'.e., those 

^ Cla^s '' C " — [ who live " under a struggle to 

Intermittent earnings l ohtain the necessaries of life 

< and make both ends meet," 

Class "D" — I whose family earnings vary 

Small regular earnings f from 18s. to 21s. per week for 

V a family of moderate size. 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 23 

connected with a miicb. larger proportion." ^ Tlie 
latter admission is important as confirming a view 
that is impressing itself more and more strongly upon 
the minds of careful social workers ; namely, That it 
is in their indirect and contributory influence that 
the drinking habits of the poor are most to be de- 
plored. But apart altogether from this, the figures 
given are sufficiently serious, and it is easy to see 
how ominously suggestive they are when applied as a 
test to the sum total of our national poverty. Four- 
teen per cent, of 4,000 families is not in itself, perhaps, 
an immediately arresting figure, but 14 per cent, of 
the entire poverty of the United Kingdom presents us 
with really appalling facts. 

The full importance of the figures becomes apparent 
when we remember that the existence of a large class 
of '^ poor " is a serious drag upon the economic progress 
of the nation. A nation's economic wealth, as we shall 
presently show, lies in the ^' fitness " or '' efficiency " 
— moral and physical — of its workers, and everything 
that tends to the degradation and impoverishment of 
the workers tends by so much to the impoverishment 
of the productive forces of the nation. 

POVEETY AND '' UnDER-CoNSUMPTION." 

We have no wish, let us repeat, to suggest that 
intemperance is the sole foris et origo maloriim, but its 
economic effects are nevertheless such as to claim the 
serious attention of all who are interested in in- 
dustrial progress. It is undoubtedly true that if 
there could be universal sobriety to-morrow the pro- 
blems of poverty and of unemployment would not bo 

^ L?/e and Labour of the People, vol. I., pi^ 117-8, 



26 THE TEINIPERANCE PROBLEM 

instantly solved, but the point we are here concerned 
with is the ultimate effect which such sobriety 
would have in stimulating industrial progress by 
increasing the efficiency of the workers, as well as 
by creating a greater demand for ordinary *' produc- 
tive " commodities. The crux of the economic posi- 
tion, so far as it stands related to drink expenditure, 
is this : that the poor cannot afford the expenditure^ 
that the means of subsistence as it is are insufficient 
for efficiency, and that an expenditure of even 
45. M. a week in drink (to quote Mr. Mundella's 
figures for East London) is purchased at the cost of 
other necessary and more "productive" commodities. 
Commercial crises (in a normal way) are said to arise 
from over-production. But it may be doubted if the 
world has ever actually suffered from over-production. 
The radical defect in the economic situation is always 
one of under consumption. Over production of two 
million pairs of boots is not over-production while ten 
million people remain unshod. AVhat is needed is to 
stimulate consumption, but the man who is thriftless, 
lazy, drunken, so far from helping consumption, stops 
it for himself and family. It is not only what he 
fails to earn, and so cannot spend, that stops con- 
sumption, but what he earns and wastefully expends ; 
for all forms of expenditure, as is elsewhere shown,^ 
have not the same economic value. Expenditure 
upon drink, for example, has not the same reproductive 
value to the community as expenditure upon clothes, 
food, books, etc. 

" From the standpoint of the community," says a 
well-known economic writer, '' nothing else than a rise 
in the average standard of current consumption can 
^ See pp. 57, 58. 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 27 

stimulate industry. When it is clearly grasped that 
a demand for commodities is the only demand for the 
use of labour and of capital . . . the hope of the 
future of our industry is seen to rest largely upon the 
confident belief that the working classes will use their 
higher wages ... to raise their standard of life 
by the current satisfaction of all those wholesome 
desires of body and mind which lie latent under an 
' economy of low wages.' ... If there are theo- 
retic economists who still hold that ' a demand for 
commodities is not a demand for labour,' they may be 
reminded that a paradox is not necessarily true. . . . 
The growing opinion of economic students is veering 
round to register in theory the firm empirical judg- 
ment from which the business world has never 
swerved, that a high rate of consumption is the surest 
guarantee of progressive trade." ^ 

The Temperance advocate may often appear to over- 
look important factors in the economic problem, but 
at least he does not over-estimate the importance of 
moral defects. They have an economic importance 
that can hardly be exaggerated. They lower the 
ideal and the standard of life for the man and his 
family ; whereas thrift, sobriety, moral purpose, tend 
to widen the outlook upon life. They open out a 
vista of new needs and possibilities, creating new 
demands, stimulating inventions, and multiplying 
the commodities to be consumed. Industries really 
are the outcome of a quickened imagination, and the 
number of commodities open to the competition of 
commerce at any given time depends upon the 
measure of awakened intelligence that exists in a 

^ J. A. Hobsoii, The Evolution of Modern Capitalism^ pp. 
283-d. 



28 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

people. In the early stages of civilization tlie world 
knows few needs, and therefore has few industries, 
but as man develops he awakes to new needs, and 
demands new commodities, and so industries develop 
and multiply. Does any one doubt that if all men 
and women became thrifty, sober, and efficient citizens 
to-morrow, with an extended outlook, a wider moral 
and intellectual vision, we should soon have a 
marvellous development of existing industries, and 
the establishment of many new ones ? ^ 

There may be — there undoubtedly are — factors of 
gravest urgency in the problem of poverty which 
no proposals for Temperance reform could cover or 
meet, but it would be folly therefore to deny to these 
proposals their legitimate place in the solution of 
the social problem. So long as the vice of intem- 
perance remains what it is to-day, so long will 
the utmost efforts of the political economist be 
hindered and thwarted. ''An economic millennium," 
it has been well said, '' would be an epoch in which 
there was no Waste — no waste of human lives, no 
ignoble sloth, no disease and decrepitude, engendered 
by ignorance or neglect of natural laws, no waste of 
useful things in vulgar, insolent vanity ; above all, no 
waste of health, substance, and self-respect in drunken- 
ness and its attendant vices." ^ 

Eelation op Deink Expenditure to "Efficiency." 

Apart, however, from any general discussion of the 
causes of poverty, it can easily be shown that the 
drink expenditure of a considerable number of work- 

^ See also p. 59. 

2 William Newmarch, F.E.S., Transactions of the National 
Association for the Promotion of Social Science^ 1871. 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEiM 29 

ing men is made at the cost of efficiency. In other 
words, there is no margin in their weekly incomes 
for such expenditure if the interests of the future are 
to be considered. Sir George 0. Trevelyan, speaking 
in the House of Commons on May 12th, 1890, put the 
matter with great clearness. " The Grovernment last 
year," he said, " issued a very interesting Report,^ 
showing the expenditure of the working-man house- 
holder ; and it appeared from that that even the 
better sort of artizans, after defraying the ordinary 
household expenses, have hardly any margin left for 
expenditure on drink. A working man who is in 
the habit of drinking cannot have his glass of beer 
and have done with it. He can hardly spend less 
than 4:S. or 5^. a week on drink, and where that is 
to come from out of his little budget it is difficult to 
imagine." ^ 

It will give definiteness to our discussion of this 
matter if we consider, first of all, what are the 
necessaries for the efficiency of an ordinary labourer 
and his family. According to Professor Marshall, the 
"necessaries for the efficiency of an ordinary agricul- 
tural or of an unskilled town labourer and his family, 
in England, in this generation " consist of ^' a well- 
drained dwelling with several rooms, warm clothing, 
with some changes of under-clothing, pure water, a 
plentiful supply of cereal food, with a moderate allow- 
ance of meat and milk, and a little tea, etc., some 
education and some recreation, and lastly, sufficient 
freedom for his wife from other work to enable her to 
perform properly her maternal and her household 
duties. If in any district unskilled labour is deprived 

1 See Board of Trade Beturn C— 58G1, 1889. 
- Hansard^ s Debates. 



30 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

of any of these things, its efficiency will suffer in 
the same wa}^ as that of a horse that is not properly 
tended, or a steam-engine that has an inadequate 
supply of coals." ^ " Perhaps at present prices," he 
continues, *' the strict necessaries for an average agri- 
cultural family are covered by fifteen or eighteen 
shillings a week, the conventional necessaries by about 
five shillings more. For the unskilled labourer in the 
town a few shillings must be added to the strict 
necessaries. For the family of the skilled workman 
living in a town we may take twenty- five or thirty 
shillings for strict necessaries, and ten shillings for 
conventional necessaries." ^ 

Now it needs little argument to show that such a 
standard of "necessaries" is altogether beyond the 
reach of several millions of the people of the United 
Kingdom at the present time ; and although the causes 
of this fact lie deeper than the problem of intemper- 
ance, the fact itself shows the economic seriousness of 
the widespread expenditure upon drink. 

But the matter can be brought to an even closer 
test. It will be generally admitted that " no sanitary 
necessity can be more real than the common animal 
need of proper food — that no morbific influence can 
be of worse import to life than mere privation of 
nourishment." These '' are propositions which every 
one feels to be true, when they are illustrated in 
individual cases of death by starvation, or in those 
national extreme sufferings of scarcity which con- 
stitute famine. But the propositions are not exclu- 
sively true in that utmost range of their application. 
In degrees far short of what is known properly as 

^ Principles of Economics, 2nd Edition, p. 121. 
2 Ibid., p. 122. 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 31 

starvation or famine, insufficiency of nourishment may 
bring very hurtful consequences to health. Local 
defects or local peculiarities of diet may exercise im- 
portant influence in determining or colouring par- 
ticular localizations of disease. And generally it may 
be said that, in order justly to estimate the sanitary 
circumstances of a people, scientific regard must be 
had to the quantity and quality of the people's meat 
and drink." ^ 

The harm inflicted by a diet which is defective in 
albumen especially is very great. It is not made 
apparent, says a well-known Italian economist, " by 
laboratory experience : only statistical induction is 
able to reveal what is, in this case, a cardinal law 
of human physiology. We can scarcely, by means 
of experiments in a laboratory, see an individual 
nourished on a small allowance of albuminoid sub- 
stances losing ground at one stroke : an experiment 
on the other hand is too brief in duration to allow us 
to follow save for a very slight interval the eifects of 
denutrition. Where, however, the physiologist can 
only obtain glimpses by means of particular experi- 
ments, statistics are able to reveal clearly when applied 
to the collective life of peoples. Partial starvation in 
the supply of albumen does not act at one blow, nor 
does it kill ; but the people or the class afEicted by it 
either pine slowly, or do not develop. Slackness in 
muscular vigour, which is made especially evident in 
weak labour-energy, low stature, an irrepressible ten- 
dency to compensating idleness, an emaciated aspect, 
a low power of resisting disease — these are the in- 
evitable effects of this kind of starvation, which no 

^ Report of the Medical Officer of the Privy Council, 18G3, 
p. 11. 



32 THE TEJMPERANCE PROBLEM 

moral law can conquer, and whicli, as in the case of 
the small folk of Naples, stamps a whole nation or 
class with the stigma of degradation." ^ 

The quantity and kind of food required vary 
according to the nature of the work to be done. If 
the work is light and intermittent, a cheap but nu- 
tritious grain diet will for the most part suffice ; but 
wherever the physical or nervous strain is continuous, 
a food is required which can be easily digested and 
assimilated. It can hardly be doubted that more ilesh 
is consumed by a large part of our population than is 
absolutely necessary or desirable. But this, says Sir 
Henry Thompson, •' is mostly to be observed among 
those who possess ample means, and whose employ- 
ments do not necessarily demand great muscular 
exertion, exposure in all weathers, or other causes of 
wear and tear to the animal tissues. Where exercise 
is very largely taken, and manual labour is hard and 
prolonged, the concentrated and easily digested pro- 
teids of flesh are the most valuable food for man's 
purpose. Where there is but little physical labour or 
activity, a smaller proportion is mostly advisable ; 
and a better state of bodily health may be generally 
assured by adopting an animal food — fish, poultry, 
and game, for example — less rich perhaps in proteids, 
and especially so in fat, than are beef or mutton, 
together with a considerable proportion of the pro- 
ducts of vegetable origin. The selection, however, 
has to be judiciously made." ^ 

But the point here to be insisted upon is, that for 

^ Nitti, Economic Journal, March, 1896, p. 50. See also Man- 
fred!, SulV aliment azi one nelle classi povere del popolo di 
Napoli, pp. 72, 73. 

- Food and Feeding, 9th Edition (1898), p. 35. 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 33 

the great army of workers there is a mmimum stand- 
ard of nourishment below which they can only sink 
at the cost of physical and mental efficiency. The 
question to be determined, then, is : What is this 
minimum standard ? In other words : What is the 
minimum quantity of food required by the working 
classes for efficiency? 



Food and Efficiency. 

In the Appendix to the present volume,^ a careful 
attempt has been made to give a general answer to 
this question. The estimates there given are, of 
course, only to be accepted as approximate, the avail- 
able data being too meagre and uncertain to make 
strictly accurate conclusions possible. Physiologists 
themselves, although generally agreed as to the quan- 
tity of food necessary for hare existence^ are not so 
generally agreed as to the quantity necessary for 
efficient subsistence. For the convenience of the pre- 
sent argument the estimates referred to may here be 
briefly summarized. It should be stated that in the 
calculation of the family expenditure a wife has been 
estimated to require eight-tenths as much food as her 
husband, while two children have been reckoned as 
one adult. 2 

Statement showing the necessary weekly expen- 
diture on food for a family of five persons on the scale 
of:— 



' See p. 624. 

^ These proportions are based upon a comparison of the most 
generally accepted estimates. 

3 



34 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

£ s. d. 

(1) Diet of indoor paupers in the White- 

chapel WorTdiouse (assuming each 
child to receive half the quantity of 
food allowed to an adult pauper) . 13 9 

(2) Diet of indoor paupers in the St. 

Pancras Workhouse 16 1 ^ 

(3) Professor Atwater 's estimate of cheapest 

rations based on Professor Yoit's 
standard for a " labouring man at 
moderate worTc^^^ 12s. to 13^. Qd.^ say . 12 9 

(4) Regulation allowance (partial diet 

only) of a British soldier in time of 

peace 12 8 

(5) Regulation diet of an American soldier 12 2 

(6) Dr. Meinert's estimate (i.e., for a ration 

with nutrients a little in excess of 
the standard for a labouring man at 
moderate work) 17 

(7) Average weekly food expenditure of 

237 men in an American workmen's 
boarding-house for a period of thirty- 
nine weeks 17 7 

Average, 16^. per week. 

Now, without attempting to lay undue stress upon 
these figures, or to claim for them an exactness which 
they do not and cannot possess, it is nevertheless 
impossible, in the face of them, to avoid two conclu- 
sions : First, that, as things are at present, a large 
proportion of the working classes do not receive suf- 
ficient nourishment for efficient subsistence ; and, 

^ If we assume tlie children to be fed on tlie same diet as tlie 
cliildren in the workhouse schools, the cost would be 225. per 
week. 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 35 

secondly, that a mucli larger proportion have abso- 
lutely no margin in their iceekly incomes for expendi- 
ture upon alcoholic drinks. It is unnecessary to do 
more than glance at the preceding figures to realize 
the truth of this. It will hardly be suggested, for 
example, that the diet of an indoor pauper is an 
extravagant diet for a robust working man or a busy 
working woman. On the contrary, it is clearly in- 
sufficient. The total allowance in the case of the 
Whitechapel pauper, according to Mrs. Barnett,^ 
amounts to no more than " 10 J oz. of carbonaceous 
food and 2\ oz. of nitrogenous food, against the 
estimated quantity of 16 oz. carbonaceous and 4 oz. 
nitrogenous, which is the necessary allowance for 
ordinary people, and against the 25 oz. of car- 
bonaceous and 5 oz. nitrogenous, which is the regula- 
tion diet of the Eoyal Engineers during peace." 
And yet even on this scanty diet the necessary 
weekly expenditure of a family of five persons 
(reckoning the three children as IJ paupers) would 
amount to nearly 14^. per week, while on the 
somewhat higher scale of the St. Pancras Work- 
house it would amount to IQs. per week. These 
sums, it must be remembered, represent the cost of 
the food at cheap contract 'prices^ and not at the prices 
paid by the poor. But it is clearly impossible for an 
ordinary unskilled labourer to feed himself and his 
family on this pauper scale so long as he spends even 
the average amount of his class on drink. For in- 
stance, a weekly expenditure of 15^. per family on 
food (the mean of the two workhouse diets) added 
to an expenditure of Qs. per week on drink (the 
average of a working-class family) would absorb the 
* Practicable Socialism, 2nd Edition (1891), p. 20. 



36 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

entire family income of one and a third million persoTis 
in London alo7ie, and leave absolutely notMng for 
rent, clothes, fuel, lighting, furniture, household 
utensils, etc. Even if we take the drink expenditure 
at a lower figure, namely, the 4^. M. per family 
stated by Mr. Mundella to be the average weekly ex- 
penditure of the poor in a district of East London, the 
result is practically the same, only Is. 9d. per weeJc 
being left out of an income of £1 l^. per week, for 
rent, clothes, fuel, lighting, etc. These figures refer, 
it must be remembered, to families of five persons. 
But, as every one knows, there are thousands of 
labourers' families that consist of six, seven, and 
eight persons. In all such cases the expenditure 
upon drink must force down the level of subsistence 
to a point that cannot be contemplated without 
dismay. 

It may perhaps be said that the drinking habits of 
the poor are often provoked by non-nutrition ; that 
ill-nourished bodies crave the momentary stimulus 
which alcoholic liquors give, and that the people are 
thus insensibly drawn into intemperance. That non- 
nutrition is often a cause as well as an effect of intem- 
perance cannot be disputed. The evidence on the 
point is overwhelming. But this is far from being 
an economic justification of the expenditure. It 
is impossible even in such cases to overlook the 
fact that the money spent on alcohol would often 
go far, with good management, to supply the de- 
ficiency in diet. In any case, the very inadequacy 
of the means of subsistence makes it a matter of vital 
moment that there shall be a wise economy of expen- 
diture. An official return, made in 1889, gives over 
40,000 children in the London Board Schools, or 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 37 

nearly 10 per cent, of tlie nuinber on tlie roll, as 
habitually attending in want of food, to which, num- 
ber returns from Voluntary schools add about 11,000 
in the same condition. " The returns," says Mr. 
Charles Booth, "were somewhat loosely made during 
a period of exceptional distress, and the figures are 
doubtless in excess of the facts ; but there is abundant 
evidence that the aggregate of children underfed at 
home is deplorably large. . . . Puny, pale-faced, 
scantily clad, and badly shod, these small and feeble 
folk may be found sitting limp and chill on the school 
benches in all the poorer parts of London. They 
swell the bills of mortality as want and sickness thin 
them off, or survive to be the needy and enfeebled 
adults whose burden of helplessness the next gener- 
ation will have to bear. Unhappily, in many cases, 
this semi-starved condition of the child is due not to 
poverty alone, but to drink, neglect, or vice at home. 
The practised eye can readily distinguish children of 
this class by their shrinking or furtive look, their 
unwholesomeness of aspect, their sickly squalor, or it 
may be by their indescribable pathos, the little shoul- 
ders bowed so helplessly beneath the burden of the 
parents' vice. ' How was it you came to school with- 
out any breakfast this morning ? ' I asked a forlorn 
little lad one day. ' Mother got drunk last night, 
and couldn't get up to give me any,' was the reply 
given, as if it were an ordinary incident in the child's 
daily life. It is from houses of this class also that the 
majority of children come whose irregular attendance 
is the torment of the teacher, and the cause of so 
much waste of the public money." ^ 

In describing, a little later, the districts in which 

^ Life and Labour of the People, vol. III., pp. 207-8. 



38 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

tlie lower class scliools are found, Mr. Bootli says : 
"Public-houses are usually abundant in a neighbour- 
hood like this. Sometimes we find as many as one to 
every eighty or a hundred adults, all thriving on the 
custom they receive. It is not always easy to specify 
the individual drinkers, but with so many of these 
houses kept going by a population on the verge of 
pauperism, it is clear that the feeding of his children 
cannot in all cases be a first charge on the parent's 
earnings. Pawnshops, too, are handy of access ; and 
in them may be often found the little jackets, boots, 
and petticoats, which account for the half -clad con- 
dition of the children in the schools." ^ 

Elsewhere, in referring to a " Special Difficulty " ^ 
school, Mr. Booth says : " Under-feeding and irregular 
attendance, the teacher tells us, next to the stringency 
of the Code, are the two great difficulties with which 
they have to contend. Nearly a third of the children 
here have free tickets for the Penny Dinner Centre 
close by, and more are needing them. Many, but for 
these free meals, would starve ; and to teach a 
starving child up to the requirements of the Code 
taxes not only a teacher's energies, but his conscience 
too. As usual, however, poverty alone is not to 
blame. One child after another we notice with the 
peculiarly squalid pallor that marks habitual under- 
feeding, and find that he comes from a drunken home. 
So with the attendance. A fixed set come well — some 
hardly ever miss. Others come indifferently well. 

^ Life and Labour of the People, vol. HI., pp. 210-211. 

^ A " Special Difficulty " school is one containing any large 
proportion of children from drunken and irregular homes. 
There are 22 such schools in London, containing in all about 
21,000 children. 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 39 

And a fixed set, from 18 to 20 per cent., come badly, 
and tliese with, scarcely an exception are from tlie 
worst and most irregular homes." ^ 

Eent, Clothing, etc. 

The matter becomes even more serious when we 
consider that food, although of first importance, is 
only one of the vital necessaries of life. " After food," 
says Professor Marshall, " the next necessaries of life 
and labour are clothing, house-room, and firing. 
When they are deficient, the mind becomes torpid, 
and ultimately the physical constitution is under- 
mined." ^ " Even of those," says another economist,^ 
" whose lot is more fortunate, but a very small pro- 
portion, in any of the older countries, have in their 
lodging the light and air which the least exacting 
hygiene declares to be essential to the harmonious 
development and adequate sustentation of the bodily 
powers." The '^ falling off in the quantity or quality 
of food and clothing, and in the convenience and 
healthfulness of the shelter enjoyed, will at once affect 
the efficiency of the labourer. With less food, which 
is the fuel of the human machine, less force will be 
generated ; with less clothing, more force will be 
wasted by cold ; with scantier and meaner quarters, 

^ In this connection it may be added that Mr. Wm. "White, 
J.P., of Birmingham, in a recent communication to the present 
writer, states : " Having during the past ten years to deal as a 
magistrate with more than 14,000 cases of neglect of parents 
in not sending their children to school, I do not hesitate to say 
that 13,000 of these cases originated through the drinking habits 
of the parents^ 

* Principles of Economics^ 2nd Edition, p. 254. 

^ Walker, The Wages Question, p. 64. 



40 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

a fouler air and diminished access to the light will 
prevent the food from being duly digested in the 
stomach, and the blood from being duly oxidized in 
the lungs ; will lower the tone of the system, and 
expose the subject increasingly to the ravages of 
disease." ^ 

The actual conditions under which large numbers 
of the working classes live are discussed so fully 
elsewhere ^ that they need not be further emphasized 
at this point. But the fact with which we are here 
concerned is, that, deplorable as those conditions too 
often are, they nevertheless entail so heavy and in- 
dispensable a charge upon the limited incomes of the 
people, as to make expenditure upon drink, from a 
strictly economic point of view, even more indefen- 
sible. A. report issued by the Labour Department of 
the Board of Trade in 1889 ^ showed that the cost of 
rent in the case of 34 working men ^ living in different 
parts of the country, varied from 12 to 20 per cent, of 
their total income,^ the percentage increasing in in- 
verse ratio to income. A proportion of one-fifth is 
certainly a serious charge upon the ordinary incomes 
of the working classes, but there can be no doubt that 
in our largest cities the proportion actually paid for 
rent is very much more than this. In Central London 
the average rent is six shillings per week jper room, 
while in the" ^crowded districts of Soho the rent of 
three-room tenements ranges from 14:S. to 255. per 

* Walker, The Wages Question, pp. 84-5. 

2 See pp. 548-560. 

» Board of Trade Return, C— 5861. 1889. 

■* Of these 6 were miners ; 5 joiners ; 8 engineers ; 2 shoe- 
makers; 3 printers; 2 clerks; and 8 "general." 

^ The incomes ranged from £28 to £150 per annum, the 
average income being £73 per annum, or £1 8s. per week. 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 41 

week.^ Mr. Marcliaiit Williams, an Inspector of 
Schools for tlie London School Board, found that 86 
per cent, of the dwellers in certain poor districts of 
London pay more than one-fifth of their incomes in 
rent ; 46 per cent, paying from one-half to one-quarter.^ 
In the face of such figures as these, can anything 
be more absolutely indefensible than an expenditure 
of from four to six shillings per week on drink ? It is 
no part of the present inquiry to discuss the problem 
of high rents. Such a question lies outside the scope 
of the present argument. All that we are concerned 
here to show is, that, 7'ents being what they are, the 
ordinary unskilled labourer who spends (either alone 
or in conjunction with his family) from four to six 
shillings per week on drink, is leaving himself and 
them no chance of a healthy and efficient existence. 
Nor is it the poorer class of labourers' families only 
who suffer. Even if we raise the limit of income to 
thirty shillings per week, the economies necessary 
to provide the drink expenditure must still be severe. 
A drink expenditure of six shillings per week, added 
to a rent of six shillings (the cost of a single room in 
Central London) would leave exactly eighteen shil- 
lings a week for food and all other purposes. If from 
this sum we deduct a further sum of fifteen shillings 
per week for food, there would remain a balance of 
three shillings a week for clothing, fuel, lighting, furni- 
ture, household utensils, medical attendance, recrea- 
tion, thrift, and the hundred and one incidental 
expenses of ordinary domestic life. And even then 
the parents would only receive the diet of a workhouse 
pauper, and the children little more than half the diet 

* See Life in West London, pp. 42-4. 
^ Hobson, Problems of Poverty, p. 10. 



42 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

of a cMld in the St. Pancras Worklionse Schools. 
This, be it remembered, is for a family of five persons 
only {i.e. husband, wife, and three children). In the 
innumerable cases where there are more than three 
children in a family, the level of subsistence must fall 
still lower. "How is it done?" it may be asked. 
The answer is simply that it is not and cannot be 
done. If one-fifth of a limited income be spent in 
drink, economies must be practised somewhere, and 
since rent, reduced to its lowest limits by unwhole- 
some crowding, remains an inflexible quantity, food 
must be stinted, and expenditure upon clothing, fuel, 
etc., reduced to limits that are not only relatively, 
but absolutely, destructive of efficiency. 

We have no wish to labour the point. The facts 
are too ominous for more than bare statement, but 
they claim the gravest attention from those who 
desire to estimate the conditions of social well-being. 
They do not constitute the whole of the social prob- 
lem, but they certainly represent one of its most 
serious elements. 



Relation of Standard of Living to Industrial 
Efficiency. 

If we look at the question from a merely industrial 
point of view, its gravity is sufficiently apparent. 
The economic position of nations is, to a large extent, 
one of food and of standard of living. " Wherever 
we see peoples and classes descending in their diet 
below the standard necessary for a moderate labourer, 
or barely reaching that limit, we may be confident 
that in the fight for work these peoples and classes 
will never fill but an inferior function, and will not 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 43 

reach tlie higlier rungs of tlie industrial ladder." ^ 
For wliat after all is labour ? It is simply physical 
and muscular exertion made economically valuable 
by intellectual guidance. " The greater the intellec- 
tual force and physical power introduced by the 
labourer, co-operating with equally well-developed 
auxiliary and surrounding conditions, the greater 
must be the sum of the products created. But to this 
we must add the further and most important fact, 
that labour, be it ever so intelligently conducted, will 
always remain physical exertion. This is to say that 
labour is an expenditure of vital force. Unless this is 
replaced by wholesome nutrition (air, light, sanitation, 
and even cheerful surroundings, are part of wholesome 
nutrition) the frame will work itself out, and labour 
will become economically of smaller and smaller value." ^ 
The older economic view — the view of the so-called 
Physiocrats especially — was based upon the now ex- 
ploded theory that ill-paid (and, consequently, ill- 
nourished) labour lessened the cost of production. It 
limited the term '^ necessaries " to those things which 
were sufficient to enable the labourers, taken one with 
another, to support themselves and their families. 
"In happier times, however," as Professor Marshall 
reminds us, "a more careful analysis has brought into 
prominence the distinction between the necessaries for 
efficiency and the necessaries for existence, and has 
made it evident that there is for each rank of in- 
dustry, at any time and place, a more or less clearly 
defined income which is necessary for merely sustain- 
ing its members ; while there is another and larger 

^ Nitti, " The Food and Labour Power of Nations," Economic 
Journal^ March, 1896. 

Schoenhof , The Economy of High Wages, p. 392. 



44 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

income whicb. is necessary for keeping it in full 
efficiency. Thus, in the South of England population 
has increased during the present century at a fair 
rate, allowance being made for migration. But the 
efficiency of labour, which in earlier times was as high 
as that in the North of England, has sunk relatively 
to the North ; so that the low-waged labour of the 
South is often dearer than the more highly paid 
labour of the North. This indicates that we cannot 
say whether the labourers in the South have been 
supplied with Necessaries, unless we know in which 
of these two senses the word is used. They have had 
the bare necessaries for existence and the increase of 
numbers, but they have not had the necessaries for 
efficiency." ^ 

'' What the employer will get out of his workman," 
says another well-known economist,^ " will depend 
very much on what he first gets into him. Not only 
are bone and muscle to be built up and kept up by 
food, but every stroke of the arm involves an expendi- 
ture of nervous energy which is to be supplied only 
through the alimentary canal. "What a man can do 
in twenty-four hours will depend very much on what 
he can have to eat in those twenty-four hours ; or 
perhaps it would be more correct to say, what he has 
had to eat the twenty-four hours previous. If his diet 
be liberal, his work may be mighty. If he be under- 
fed, he must underwork. So far away as the Hundred 
Years' War Englishmen were accustomed to assign a 
more generous diet as the reason why their ' beef-fed 
knaves ' so easily vanquished their traditional enemies, 
and even into this century, the island writers were 

^ Principles of Economics^ 2nd Edition, p. 120. 
2 Walker, (?/>. ceY., pp. 53-5. 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 45 

accustomed to speak as if still for the same reason, in 
work at least if not in war, 

' Upon one pair of English legs did marcli three 
Frenchmen.' ^ 

" Of course in this, as in every other department 
of expenditure, there is an economical maximum, 
where the greatest proportional return is received. 
. . . With the labourer the economical maximum 
of expenditure on food is reached far short of the point 
at which ' gorging and guzzling ' begin ; it shuts off 
everything that partakes of luxury or ministers to 
delicacy ; yet till that maximum be reached every 
addition to food brings a proportional, or more than 
proportional, addition of working strength. To stop 
far short of that limit and starve the labouring man 
is as bad economy as to rob the engine of its fuel." 

The matter is not one of theory but of practical 
experience. " One of the most intelligent manufac- 
turers I ever met," says Dr. Grould, the Special Com- 
missioner of the United States Labour Department,^ 
^' told me a few years ago he would be only too glad 
to pay higher wages to his working people, provided 
they would spend the excess legitimately and not 
hoard it." A similar remark is quoted by Mr. 
Schoenhof : 3 " « They don't eat and don't work,' said 
a shoe manufacturer of Vienna, when we compared 
notes on the productiveness of Austrian and German 
labour and of American labour. ' Bread and beer- 

* "Each Frenchman consumes on an average 16 oz. of 
wheaten bread a day ; each Englishman 32 oz. ; the former 
1| oz. of meat ; the latter 6 oz." — Alison, Europe, 1816-51, 
chap. VII., sec. 126. 

* Contemporary Revieiv, January, 1893. 
^ Op. cit, p. 65. 



46 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

swilling and an occasional bit of sausage cannot give 
strength sufficient to compete with you.' " ^ It is 
necessary, of course, in pursuing this argument to 
distinguish between two different forms or aspects of 
efficiency. " There is the efficiency due to sheer 
strength, brute force, and endurance ; and there is the 
efficiency due to the cultivated and intelligent skill of 
the trained artizan. There is the efficiency that is 
born of the improvement of processes and machinery, 
in which the worker not only generally bears a sub- 
ordinate part, but in consequence of which he is often 
transformed from a subtle thinker and a deft worker, 
into a self-acting tool ; and there is the efficiency con- 
sequent upon the possession and exercise of higher 
skill and greater concentration of energy." ^ 

The demand for '' brute force "is no longer what it 
was when the man's hand and arm turned the spin- 
ning wheel and drove the shuttle. At the present 
time, thanks to improvements in machinery, less than 
one-sixth of the industrial classes in England are en- 
gaged on work requiring special muscular exertion. 
The force exerted by steam-engines alone is more than 
twenty times as much as could be done by the muscles 



* Another American economist (Mr. Edward Atkinson), in a 
work published in 1886, says : " It has been found expedient 
for the employers of labour in certain brickyards of Massachu- 
setts and Connecticut to serve their workmen with a supply of 
the best food which represents in its chemical proportions, as 
well as in its calorics, twice the ration which is served to the 
soldier of the German army when upon a forced march, or when 
engaged in the most arduous struggle of active service in war, 
in order to promote the largest production of brick per man at 
the lowest cost to the employer." — The Food Question in 
America and Europe. 

^ J. S. Jeans, Statistical Journal, December, 1892. 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 47 

of all Englishmen.^ But, great as the change has 
been, it cannot be said to have encouraged the 
lowering of the standards of efficiency, nor to have 
made it possible for ill-nourished and ill-developed 
workers to compete more successfully with their rivals 
at home and abroad. The demand for muscular exer- 
tion has been replaced by a demand for attention and 
skill, and the standards of necessary eiEciency have 
been by so much enhanced. " Though as a rule," says a 
writer already quoted,^ " machinery tends to take over 
the heavier forms of muscular work, it also tends to 
multiply the minor calls upon the muscles, until the 
total strain is not much less than before. "What relief 
is obtained from muscular effort is compensated by a 
growing strain upon the nerves and upon the atten- 
tion. Moreover, as the machinery grows more com- 
plex, numerous, and costly, the responsibility of the 
machine-tender is increased. To some, considerable 
extent the new effort imposed upon the worker is of a 
more refined order than the heavy muscular work it 
has replaced. But its tax upon the physique is an 
ever-growing one. ' A hand-loom weaver can work 
thirteen hours a day, but to get a six-loom weaver to 
work thirteen hours is a physical impossibility.' The 
complexity of modern machinery, and the superhuman 
celerity of which it is capable, suggest continually an 
increased compression of human labour, an increased 
output of effort per unit of time. This has been 
rendered possible by acquired skill and improved 
physique ensuing on a higher standard of living." 

1 Marshall, op. cit., p. 251. 

* Hobson, The Evolution of Modern Capitalism, p. 276. 



48 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

Changes in Industeial Competition. 

It is the more necessary to concentrate attention on 
this point by reason of changes that are rapidly 
shifting the centres of commercial activity and inten- 
sifying the forces of industrial competition. In the 
commercial world things are not as they were. Other 
nations have been moving up to our own standards of 
efficiency, so that British labour ''does not enjoy the 
same incontestably high relative position that it for- 
merly did." The fact, in short, as Mr. Benjamin Kidd 
has lately reminded us,^ has '' begun to make itself 
more and more distinctly felt that the competing 
nations in most cases possess but little advantage one 
over the other, and that the probable tendency is for 
even this to become less." "Within the last thirty 
years G-ermany, Belgium, and even Russia, have trans- 
formed themselves economically. The two former 
especially are now highly developed industrial States 
claiming a large share of the world's markets ; while 
we are also face to face with the unprecedented compe- 
tition of the United States. The conditions of indus- 
trial competition are, therefore, wholly changed, and 
the question of efficiency — mental and physical — has 
become one of paramount importance. 

At present our most highly equipped — and therefore 
most formidable — competitors are our kinsmen across 
the Atlantic. America is commercially formidable, 
not merely because of her gigantic enterprise and 
almost illimitable resources, but because, as recent 
investigations have shown,^ her workers are better 
nourished and possess a relatively higher efficiency. 

* The Control of the Tropics, p. 4. 

* See Sixth and Seventh Annual Reports of the U.S. Commis- 
sioner of Labour, Washington. 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 49 



Dr. E. E. L. Gould, in a survey of the results of a 
most exhaustive inquiry recently undertaken by the 
United States Labour Department, says : " A second 
element in a just social standard for an industrial 
labourer is food. "We see from the double column 
wherein the figures are portrayed, that in practically 
every instance, the largest absolute but the smallest 
relative sum falls to the American. Does this mean 
that the family of the working man in America is 
better nourished than abroad ? I believe it does, and 
principally for two reasons : the family in the United 
States is smaller, and therefore with the largest sum 
of money spent the amount per capita is considerably 
greater. But does higher expenditure mean more 
food? We may answer affirmatively, because a 
greater quantity of the principal articles in a work- 
ing man's menu can be had for an equal amount of 
money in the New "World." ^ 

The conclusion which Dr. Gould thus reaches is 
made evident by the following table which Professor 
Nitti has compiled from Dr. Gould's data.^ Taking 
100 as the price of any given commodity in the 
United States, Professor Nitti finds that the European 
nations in which inquiry has been made stand in the 
following relations : — 



Commodity. 


United 
States. 


Belgium. 


Great 
Britain- 


Germany. 


France. 


Meat .... 
Potatoes . . . 
Butter . . . 
Sugar . . . 
Coffee. . . . 


100 
100 
100 
100 
100 


147 

70 
109 
151 
113 


150 
103 
104 
50 
140 


123 
50 
122 
119 
119 


152 
119 
135 

184 

167 



* The Contemporary Review, January, 1893, pp. 139-40. See 
also Appendix, p. 635. 
^ See Economic Journal^ March, 1896, p. 39. 



50 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

The great superiority of working-class nutriment in 
the United States comes out still more clearly in the 
subjoined table. 

100 representing quantity 
consumed in U.S., the 
Commodity. European workmen^ consumes : 

Meat 33 

Bacon (or fat) 50 

Eggs 85 

Butter . 100 

Flour . 100 

Potatoes 175 

Sugar 25 

Cofifee 85 

" The columns in which expenditure for alcoholic 
drinks are exposed," says Dr. Gould, ^' present food for 
serious reflection. National pride will no doubt be 
flattered to learn that American families spend the 
smallest sums for this purpose. Not only so, but there 
must also be a smaller per capita consumption, since 
the prices of alcoholic drinks are higher in the New 
World. Still, this is only a partial satisfaction. If 
we conceive that the American spends too much, the 
European, to whom the struggle for existence is 
keener, wastes more." In summing up the results of 
the inquiry, Dr. Gould says: ''What inferences are 
we to draw from the foregoing statistics ? Unmistak- 
ably this, that higher daily wages in America do not 
mean a correspondingly enhanced labour cost to the 
manufacturer. But why so? . . . The real ex- 
planation I believe to be, that greater physical force, 

^ The figures refer to tlie average consumption of the British, 
Belgian, German and French workmen (taken together) em- 
ployed in the industries investigated. 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 51 

as the result of better nourisliment in combination 
witb superior intelligence and skill, make the working 
man in the United States more efficient. His deter- 
mination to maintain a high standard of life causes 
him to put forth greater effort, and this reacts to the 
benefit of the employer as well as to his own. We 
should give the principal credit of the higher wages 
in America neither to the manufacturer, the tariff, 
nor any other agency, but the working man himself, 
who will not labour for less than will enable him to 
live on a high social plane. That he can carry out 
his policy with but little disadvantage to his employer 
in economic competition, teaches a lesson of far-reach- 
ing importance. Instead of a Eicardian regime^ 
where the wages of labour become barely sufficient to 
permit a sustentation of effort and a reproduction of 
kind, it looks as if ere long the world's industrial 
supremacy would pass to those who earn the most and 
live the best." ^ 

"We are then face to face with this supreme necessity : 
Either we must grapple with the forces that undermine 
our national strength and weaken our industrial effi- 
ciency, or be content to fall behind in the struggle for 
commercial supremacy. Nations, like animals, as the 
late Lord Playfair long ago reminded us,^ ''have their 
changing struggles for existence. To remain prosperous 
they must possess the conditions which Herbert Spencer 
prescribes for individual welfare : ' a constant progress 
towards a higher degree of skill, intelligence, and self- 
regulation — a better co-ordination of actions ; a more 

* Op. cit., pp. 151-52. See also on tke same subject the Twenty- 
sixth Annual Report of the Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics 
of Labour (1896). 

2 Subjects of Social Welfare, p. 309. 



52 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

complete life.' " The actual material wealth of our 
cities, as another careful thinker points out,^ is 
"simply in their effective population plus their effec- 
tive material surroundings. Here, then, the question 
again is of life and surroundings, of ' organism and 
environment,' of evolution or degeneration, and it is 
best to treat it so. The working classes, like any 
other, will be in well-being in proportion as they 
become healthy organisms, leading fuller lives in 
richer surroundings both of art and nature, adjusted 
to satisfy all their needs alike, not only the funda- 
mental but the supreme ones ; and they are in ill- 
being until some approximation to that state of affairs 
is reached. Remedies are indeed offered on all hands 
. . . panaceas for every symptom of our disordered 
social state are also proffered, but the social disease lies 
deeper. Reproduction has outrun individuation ; the 
mere growth of our cities has outrun their real 
development. Our progress is as yet only ' quantity 
not quality.' . . . Remedial treatment then de- 
mands a raising of the whole character and aims of 
our civilization, yet this would only be the sum of 
that raised and ennobled standard of individual living, 
at which no one need think it Utopian to aim. . . . 
Only thus can we ever hope to realize the aim of 
practical economics, which is not illusory progress 
visible only in census returns and bank ledgers, but is 
the progressive development of the highest human and 
social life — not the Increase of Wealth, but the Ascent 
of Man." 



^ Patrick Geddes, The Conditions of Progress of the Capitalist 
and of the Labourer. 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 53 

Tempeeance and the " Standard of Life." 

It is as we pursue this line of inquiry tliat we 
find the true answer to the familiar objection that 
Temperance, by lowering the standard of a working 
man's requirements, tends to endanger the standard 
of wages. The objection is plausible enough to give 
it an appearance of weight ; but none the less it is 
entirely misleading. It starts by assuming two utterly 
erroneous propositions. First, that materialistic con- 
siderations are the only factors in economic progress ; 
and, secondly, that the standard of life is a fixed and 
permanent standard, in which, moreover, alcohol has 
a recognised and natural place. It will be convenient 
to consider these conclusions conjointly ; indeed, they 
cannot strictly be separated. To begin with, it is 
a serious mistake to assume that the standard of 
life is a fixed and invariable quantity. On the con- 
trary, it is always relative to a given time and place, 
and to a given set of moral and intellectual conditions. 
Moreover, it is affected, both directly and indirectly, 
by every fresh achievement in the physical, intellec- 
tual, and moral progress of the individual and of the 
community. The habitual drunkard requires {i.e. is 
satisfied with) little food, little or no intellectual 
stimulus, and few interests. The sober man, on the 
other hand, requires more, and better, food ; greater 
decencies ; and wider and more varied interests. In a 
word, he is ever reaching forward towards a higher 
standard of life. Hence it is that we may safely 
assert (what, indeed, we know historically to be the 
fact) that sobriety, as a part of the moral advance- 
ment of mankind, so far from diminishing, tends 
unfailingly to raise the standard of life, and there- 



54 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

fore tlie standard of wages also.^ Further, as lias 
been pointed out, the objection assumes that alcohol 
has a necessary and natural place in the standard 
of life. So far from this being the case, it has been 
clearly shown that indulgence in alcoholic drinks 
(so far as a large proportion of the workers are 
concerned) can only be maintained by lowering the 
standard of life. As a matter of fact, it may safely 
be asserted that if the reforms herein advocated 
became effective to-morrow they would in no way 
endanger the standard of wages, especially as we 
are still, unhappily, very far from having attained — 
in the case of unskilled labour especially — to that 
minimum standard of life which is essential to 
efficiency. 

It would not, indeed, be difficult to show that the 
presence in our cities of large numbers of those who 
have been made "unfit" by habits of vice and in- 
temperance ''creates a costly and often unavailing 
struggle to raise the standard of life and health." In 
many branches of unskilled labour moral factors count 

* "Let us take the term tlie Standard of Life to mean tlie 
Standard of Activities and of Wants. Thus a rise in the 
Standard of Living implies an increase of intelligence, and 
energy and self-respect ; leading to more care and judgment in 
expenditure, and to an avoidance of food and drink that gratify 
the appetite but afford no strength, and of ways of living that 
are unwholesome physically and morally. A rise in the 
Standard of Life for the whole population will much increase 
the National Dividend, and the share of it which accrues to 
each grade and to each trade ; and a rise in the Standard of 
Life for any one trade or grade will raise their efficiency and 
their own real wages ; while it will at the same time enable 
others to obtain their assistance at a cost somewhat less in 
proportion to its efficiency, and of course it will increase the 
National Dividend a little." — Marshall, op. cit., p. 738. 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 55 

for very little. In some of them tlie demand even for 
physical efficiency is not very great, so that they 
provide room for men who have impoverished their 
standard of life by wasteful expenditure and who are 
content to be employed at low and inadequate wages. 
It is the competition of these men in many branches 
of unskilled labour that really endangers the wages 
of unskilled labour. 

In his presidential address to the E-oyal Statistical 
Society in 1892, Mr. Charles Booth said : — 

" In 1887, when I was considering dock employment 
as a principal East End industry, I found the position 
to be very hopeless as well as very unsatisfactory. 
The employers were content, and the men, though far 
from content, were entirely unorganized. The dock 
managers accepted the crowd and the struggle at the 
dock gates as an inevitable phenomenon which hap- 
pened to fit in weU with the conditions of their trade. 
They could always be sure of sufficient labour, and 
though its quality might be bad, its pay was corre- 
spondingly low." ^ It is true that evils such as this 
are largely remediable by improved organization, and 
trade unions have done, in this respect, an invaluable 
service to labour. But it must never be forgotten 
that to be economically effective trade unions require 
— and indeed must have — moral efficiency in their 
members. It is singular how slow we are, in our 
study of economic facts, to realize the importance 
of the moral factor, to perceive that it is really the 
ultimate and most effective instrument of economic 
reform. Eliminate it, and progress is made impossible. 
We are left with nothing but a lifeless mechanism 
of reform — a lever without driving power or fulcrum. 
* Statistical Journal^ December, 1892, p. 522. 



56 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



Intempeeate Consumption of Alcohol. 

There is another aspect of the question still to be 
considered, and that is the direct and unquestionable 
loss that results from intemperate drinking. That 
much of the indulgence in alcoholic drinks is exces- 
sive and wasteful is not seriously disputed. Opinions, 
it is true, differ as to the proportion of the total con- 
sumption that may be so regarded, and the amount at 
the best can only be approximately determined ; but 
even at the lowest computation it certainly forms a 
not inconsiderable proportion of the whole. Professor 
Leone Levi, in his evidence before the Lords' Com- 
mittee in 1877, estimated the amount of intemperate 
consumption at one-fifth of the total consumption. 
" Assuming," he said, " the consumption by the tem- 
perate at sixty gallons of beer and two gallons of 
spirits in England, and three gallons in Scotland and 
Ireland per annum, I calculate that out of 1,100,000,000 
gallons of beer consumed, about 900,000,000 gallons 
would be consumed by the temperate, and 200,000,000 
gallons, probably, by the intemperate ; and that out 
of the 42,000,000 gallons of spirit consumed, 33,000,000 
will be consumed by the temperate, and 9,000,000 pro- 
bably by the intemperate." And again: "Of this 
large consumption, a very considerable proportion is 
used by the temperate in a temperate manner. Only 
a small proportion — I do not imagine more than 23 
per cent, of spirits and 13 per cent, of beer — constitutes 
the consumption of the intemperate which may be 
considered as actual waste." ^ 

Even if we assume the proportion to be as low as is 

* Evidence of the Lords' Committee on Intemperance^ qq. 
9,742 and 9,762. 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 57 

here suggested,^ it would follow that upwards of 
£23,500,000 were spent in 1899 in intemperate and 
wasteful drinking. 

Mr. Dudley Baxter's estimate is very much higher 
than this. The figures which he gives for 1869, and 
which are quoted elsewhere,^ show that 38 per cent, of 
the total consumption of spirits, and 32 per cent, of 
the total consumption of beer, must in that year have 
represented intemperate consumption. If we make 
the most liberal allowance for a more general diffusion 
of wealth and a consequent increase in the amount of 
temperate consumption in the interval, and reduce the 
proportions which Mr. Baxter gives to 30 per cent, 
and 25 per cent, respectively, it would follow that 
£38,700,000 were spent in 1899 in intemperate and 
wasteful drinking. 

The Committee of the British Association, in their 
report on the subject in 1882, emphasized the elements 
of *' luxury " and " wastefulness " even more strongly. 
After discussing the general distribution of the na- 
tional expenditure under various heads, the Committee 
proceed : — 

" On examination of the component parts of these 
various items of expenditure it will be found that, 
whilst the expenditure on articles of food consists 
mostly of necessaries, the expenditure on drink in- 
cludes a large amount for beer, spirits, and wines, only 
a small portion of which, probably 20 per cent., can 

* It must be borne in mind that expenditure may be intem- 
perate and wasteful far short of actual drunkenness. " Social 
drinking," for example, on the part of j^oung men and others, 
may bear no fruits in insobriety, and yet still be wasteful in 
the sense that it bears no relation to spending capacity. 

^ See Appendix, p. 619. 



58 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

be supposed to be necessary, the remainder being either 
pure luxury or sheer waste J ^ 

The true comment upon these figures is supplied in 
the closing words of the same report. After pointing 
out that the subject under consideration {i.e. the right 
appropriation of wages) is ^'of the highest practical 
importance," the Committee proceed : " It is erron- 
eous to imagine that it does not matter how money- 
is expended, whether productively or unproductively, 
provided it gives labour to the people, or provided 
the money expended remains at home; for while in 
one case the object produced remains, and, like capital, 
becomes serviceable for further production, in the 
other the object produced is either useless or utterly 
wasted. "What is expended productively is never con- 
sumed. It reproduces itself again and again. What 
is expended unproductively is lost." ^ 

This aspect of the question is wisely emphasized. 
In the discussion of the economic bearings of the 
Temperance problem by the representatives of the 
'' Trade," it is too often forgotten that a reduction of 
expenditure in what is admittedly non-productive con- 
sumption would proportionately increase the amount 
of money available for productive consumption. In 
this connection it is unnecessary to assume — what is 
invariably assumed by the apologists of the Trade — 
the total suppression of the traffic and a consequent 
wholesale displacement of labour. That is a result 
which, it is safe to say, is entirely improbable, and, in 
the present state of public feeling, impracticable. It 
will be wiser to consider the economic results of a re- 
duction to, say, the limits of the drink consumption 

* Eeport of the British Association, 1882, p. 304. 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 59 

of the United States. Such a reduction, as we shall 
shortly show, would mean the possible transfer from 
non-productive to productive expenditure of an annual 
sum amounting to nearly £66,000,000. That the 
greater part of this vast sum would, as a matter of 
fact, be spent productively — i.e. in the encouragement 
of productive industries — cannot be doubted, nor can 
the economic value of such a transfer easily be exag- 
gerated. But it is not necessary for the purposes of 
the economic argument to contemplate even so reason- 
able a reduction as the foregoing. There are other in- 
contestable figures available. No one, for example, 
will question the economic wastefulness of intemper- 
ate drinking, and yet this, to take only a basis of 
calculation that the '^ Trade " itself does not contest,^ 
must have represented an expenditure in 1899 of up- 
wards of £23,500,000 ; while if we take as the basis of 
calculation the opinion of the Committee of experts 
appointed by the British Association in 1881 and 1882, 
out of a total expenditure of £162,000,000, in 1899, 
only £32,400,000 can be regarded as '^ necessary " ex- 
penditure, the remainder (i.e. £129,600,000) "being 
either pure luxury or sheer waste." If these sums, 
or any considerable proportion of them, had been 
spent on useful or necessary commodities, the economic 
gain to the nation would have been enormous. Such 
considerations are, indeed, so obvious as to need 
little emphasis, but they cannot be excluded from 
any serious discussion of the economic results of the 
traffic. It was a recognition of their importance that 
led the late Lord Randolph Churchill to make pro- 
nounced and public reference to them,^ and that 

* See TTie Fallacies of Teetotalers (Peter Walker & Son, Ltd.)* 
^ " Imagine what a prodigious social reform, what a bound 



6o THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

caused Eichard Cobden to declare that " the Temper- 
ance cause lies at the foundation of all social and 
political reform." 

The Loss to the Revenue. 

But another and more practical objection claims 
attention. There is a somewhat widespread impres- 
sion that the efforts of Temperance reformers are 
'' adverse to the interests of the [Luperial] Exchequer, 
and that were these labours to be crowned with suc- 
cess, the minister who is charged with providing the 
ways and means of meeting the national expenditure 
would be puzzled from what source to raise the money 
which is now so easily procured through the agency 
of the brewer and distiller." At the present time the 
taxes imposed upon the traffic yield an annual sum of 
£36,000,000, and it is urged that if Temperance re- 
formers had their way this £36,000,000 would not be 
forthcoming, but would have to be raised "by an 
enormous increase in the Income Tax, or by some 
other means of taxation." In a general way it might 
perhaps be sufficient to reply that the objection pre- 
supposes the immediate and total extinction of the 
traffic. So far from this being possible, it is probable 

in advance we should liave made, if we could curb and control 
this devilish and destructive liquor traffic ; if we could manage 
to remove from amongst us what I have called on former occa- 
sions the fatal facility of recourse to the beer-house, which 
besets every man and woman, and really one may almost say 
every child of the working-classes of England; if we could 
divert from that drink and from that source of expenditure at 
any rate a considerable portion only of the £100,000,000 or more 
which this nation thinks it necessary at present every year to 
spend in drink ; if we could direct that expenditure to objects 
more civilized." — Speech at Walsall, July, 1889. 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 6i 

tliat few Temperance reformers look for a greater 
immediate result than a reduction of tlie traffic by 
one-lialf {i.e. to tlie level of the United States) — a 
proportion that would reduce the amount of revenue 
derived from the traffic by £18,000,000. The matter 
is, however, so intimately bound up with the econo- 
mics of the Temperance movement that it will be 
well to give it fuller consideration here. Apart alto- 
gether from the strictly moral aspects of the question,^ 
it is important to point out that it is entirely con- 
trary to the truest economic interests of a country to 
raise revenue in such a way that its material re- 
sources are impaired. The objection, to have force, 
would require to show that the revenue derived from 
the liquor trade was a net gain to the imperial treasury, 
subject to no deductions or counter-claims in the shape 
of both direct and indirect losses to the community 
arising out of the results of the traffic. So far from 
this being the case, it is matter of common knowledge 
and concern that very considerable charges, amount- 
ing, at the lowest estimate, to many millions sterling,^ 
are annually incurred in directly combating the 
results of the traffic which provides the revenue. To 



* Mr. Buskin has said that " drunkenness is not only the cause 
of crime, but that it is crime ; and that if any encourage drunk- 
enness for the sake of the profit derived from the sale of drink, 
they are guilty of a form of moral assassination as criminal as 
any that has ever been practised by the bravos of any country 
or of any age." 

2 " It must be borne in mind that at least one-half of the 
taxes accruing from drink are expended by the State in pre- 
venting, punishing, and repairing evils the result of that drink 
being consumed." Bourne, " The Taxation of Alcohol." — Re- 
port of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, 
1882, p. 638. 



62 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

estimate tlie real effect of an abolition or, wliat is 
more practicable, a large reduction of the drink traffic, 
upon the revenue of the country, it would be necessary 
to make full allowance for these. In the Appendix 
to this volume ^ an attempt has been made to trace the 
part which intemperance plays in the production of 
pauperism, insanity, crime, etc. The estimates there 
given, it is hardly necessary to say, do not claim to be 
more than approximately correct, but they embody 
the results of a careful analysis of the most important 
evidence on the subject. In considering the loss 
which they represent to the community, it must be 
remembered that the figures themselves cover but a 
small part of the actual impoverishment which the 
community suffers in respect of the evils described. 
It might be possible, for example, to estimate, at 
least approximately, the minimum proportion of 
crime that is due, directly or indirectly, to intem- 
perance in drink, and to charge that proportion 
against the aggregate cost to the nation of the ad- 
ministration of justice and the maintenance of our 
prison system. But this is not all. '' Each criminal 
has his one or more victims whose life, health, property, 
or time he destroys or wastes. No one who has ever 
attended our criminal courts but must be aware that 
the expense borne by the State in the apprehension, 
trial, and punishment of the wrongdoer is but a 
portion of the cost of his crime." * Moreover, there 
is the further loss to the community through the 
withdrawal of the criminal from productive labour. 
" Treating each child as an investment of capital to 

1 See p. 636. 

^ Bourne, " The National Expenditure upon Alcohol." — 
Statistical Journal, June, 1882. 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 63 

be applied productively in honest industry," says Sir 
Edwin Chad wick, '^ it is a total loss if he fail from 
moral defaults. If he turn mendicant, pauper, or 
thief, he will still levy a maintenance on the public ; 
as a thief most wastefully by spoil, as a criminal in 
prison or in convict establishments, he will be kept 
unproductively, generally at double the expense of 
maintaining a pauper. The insurance table would 
give him, from the tenth year, the chances of forty 
years of life and waste, and this waste would be under- 
estimated at the keep of a pauper, or a total loss of 
£480 on every case of failure."^ 

So too in respect of other results of the drink traffic. 
It is a sufficiently serious social fact that during the 
five years 1892-96 the number of deaths in England 
and "Wales directly referred to intemperance was 
10,220, or an average of 2,044 per year.^ But these 
figures fail even remotely to suggest the loss which 
the community suffers from the sickness and disease 
that result from excessive drinking. The late Sir 
Andrew Clark, in referring to the matter, said : " I do 
not desire to make out a strong case ; I desire to make 
out a true case. I am speaking solemnly and carefully 
in the presence of truth, and I tell you I am consider- 
ably within the mark when I say to you that going 
the round of my hospital wards to-day, seven out of 
every ten there owed their ill-health to alcohol. Now 
what does that mean ? That out of every hundred 
patients whom I have charge of at the London 
Hospital,^ 70 per cent, of them directly owe their 

* Statistical Journal, vol. XXV., p. 519. 
2 See Appendix, pp. 665-6. 

^ Situate in the East End of London, between Whitechapel 
and Mile End. 



64 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

ill-health to alcohol — to the abuse? I do not say 
these 70 per cent, were drunkards, but to the exces- 
sive use. I do not know that one of them was a 
drunkard." ^ And again : " I am not saying, because 
I have no means of saying, in human life in society 
at large, what is the percentage of victims which 
alcohol seizes upon as its rightful prey. I do not 
know. I have no method of coming accurately to the 
conclusion, but I know this, that not only do a large 
percentage of such diseases as I have mentioned, but 
a great mass — certainly more than three-fourths — of 
the disorders in what we call 'fashionable life,' arise 
from the use of this very drug of which I am now 
speaking." ^ 

What these figures represent in actual monetary 
loss to the community it is impossible to compute.^ 
This much, however, we do know : that " Public 
Health is Public Wealth." ''Every man," says Sir 
James Simpson,^ " who is obstructed by sickness from 
working his work and doing his duty as a citizen, is 
necessarily a loss to the revenues of the State at large. 
If we have a community of ten thousand, with one 
hundred sick, the wealth producing power of this 
hundred is not only taken from the public purse, but 



* Sir Andrew Clark, The Action of Alcohol upon Healthy p. 9. 
2 Ihid., p. 11. 

^ The late Sir Edwin Chadwick, in kis Presidential Address 
to the Economic Section of the British Association in 1862, 
said : " The actual waste of capital in England and Wales, 
from the loss of labour, from excessive sickness and premature 
mortality, I estimate at the very least at between fourteen and 
fifteen millions per annum." — Statistical Journal, vol. XXV., 
p. 507. 

* Address on Public Health. — Transactions of the National 
Association for the Promotion of Social Science (Belfast), 1867. 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 65 

ten or twenty more additional citizens have to be told 
off to attend to tliem in their sickness, and during 
their term of illness the sustenance of the sick and 
their attendants is required to be obtained from public 
or private sources. But, further, if from the severity of 
the disease, five or ten adults, fathers or mothers, in this 
hundred die, the consequent loss to the community 
is difficult to calculate, as their children might require 
to be sustained, and the status of their families be 
deteriorated morally and materially. It is impossible, 
indeed, to estimate in mere yellow gold the value of 
the life of a father, however humble a mechanic he 
may be, cut down prematurely by disease and death." 
It is the consideration of facts such as these that shows 
how misleading (from the larger view of national well- 
being) the appeal to the fiscal argument really is. The 
effective answer to it was given by Sir Eobert (then 
Mr.) Griffen, nearly twenty years ago. Speaking 
before the Royal Statistical Society of London in 
1882, Mr. Griffen said : "If with regard to any article 
they could say definitely that a certain part of the 
use of it was absolutely injurious to the people at the 
time they were consuming it, and that it produced a 
certain loss of time, and disease and sickness resulted 
from its use, then there was an economic waste arising 
from the consumption of alcoholic liquors, which could 
be spoken of apart from any theories of total absti- 
nence or the reverse, and this waste, which every- 
body must recognise, whether total abstainers or not, 
must be very large indeed. Professor Levi had very 
properly drawn attention to some calculations which 
might be made upon the statistics of crime and 
pauperism, in contradiction to estimates which were 
made by those intimately acquainted with the con- 



66 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

dition of tlie people ; but looking at the balance of 
evidence, lie (Mr. Giffen) thougbt the very small 
percentage wliicli the Professor arrived at was hardly 
supported, and they could not but come to the con- 
clusion that of the hundred million pounds, which 
must be admitted to be spent by the people on 
alcoholic liquors, a very large part was wasteful 
expenditure. Even if it were one-fourth only, or 
twenty-five million pounds, that was an enormous 
sum, and that was entirely irrespective of the waste 
to the country from crime and pauperism, which, 
on Mr. Bourne's figures, would not be less than 
another twenty-five million pounds. These two sums 
amounted to fifty million pounds,^ which was quite 
large enough to justify, in an economic view, all 
the complaints about the evils of intemperance, and 
the opinion that there would be an immense gain 
to the country if the evil could be removed." ^ 

The view thus expressed by Sir Robert Griffen 
has been shared, for more than a century, by many 
of the ablest financiers and social students that the 
country has known.^ Sir Frederic Eden, in refer- 
ring to the matter in his great work on The State of 

^ It is interesting to note in this connection that the Select 
Committee of the House of Commons appointed in 1834 to 
inquire ^' into the extent, causes, and consequences of the pre- 
vailing vice of intoxication among the labouring classes of the 
United Kingdom " estimated '' the mere pecuniary loss to the 
nation" from the evils of the drink traffic at a similar amount 
{i.e., *' little short of fifty millions sterling per annum "). 

^ Statistical Journal, June, 1882. 

^ So far back as 1729 we find John Disney, magistrate and 
divine in his View of Ancient Laws against Immorality and 
Profaneness, putting forward similar views. " I deny," he says, 
"the assertion that the revenue of y® crown will really be im- 
paired by prohibiting tipling and drunk^^ ... 3 parts in 4 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 67 

the Poor (published in 1797), says : " For Government 
to offer encouragement to ale-houses is to act the 
part of a felo de se. Nor ought the public ever to 
be lulled into an acquiescence by the flattering bait 
of immediate gain, which ere long they would be 
obliged to pay hack to paupers in reliefs with a heavy 
interest y Thirty years later (in 1830) we find a 
Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr. Groulburn) de- 
claring in the House of Commons that, '^ so far from 
the Grovernment desiring to promote the consumption 
of spirits, they would rather see the people refrain 
from them altogether." ^ Forty years later, Mr. Dudley 
Baxter, whose right to be heard on all matters of 
imperial finance no one will question, wrote : " Take 
away excessive temptation, and you will greatly re- 
duce excessive drinking. No one could lament a 
deficit in the Taxes on Alcohol caused by such a 
measure. On the contrary, it would be most desirable 
in the true interests of the nation." ^ The declara- 
tion of Mr. Griadstone was even more pronounced. 
E-eplying to a deputation of brewers who had inti- 
mated that his proposed course of action in regard to 

of the pore families in this kingdom have been reduced to want 
chiefly by haunting Taverns or Ale-houses. Espec^ labouring 
men, who very often consume there on the Lord's day what 
they have gotten all the week before, & let their families beg 
or steal for a subsistence the week foll^. . . . Now I suppose 
you will grant me that as the No. of poor & ruined families 
encreases in a nation, the Prince that governs must find a 
proportionable decay in his Ee venue. On the other side, all 
such laws duly executed as keep men hy sobriety temple & 
frugality in a thriving condition, do most effectually pro- 
vide for the happiness of the people & for the riches of the 
Prince." 

^ Speech in the House of Commons, June 4th, 1830. 

^ The Taxation of the United Kingdom^ p. 149. 



68 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

the malt tax duties would greatly affect the imperial 
revenue, he said : " Gentlemen, you need not give 
yourselves any trouble about the revenue. The 
question of revenue must never stand in the way 
of needed reforms. Besides, with a sober population, 
not wasting their earnings, I shall know where to 
obtain the revenue." Finally, the testimony of a 
distinguished political opponent of Mr. Grladstone 
may be quoted as completing the chain of argument. 
In the course of his Budget speech in the House of 
Commons on April 16th, 1874, the late Lord Iddes- 
leigh (then Sir Stafford ISTorthcote) said : " The main 
feature of the year was the great increase on Customs 
and Excise ; and, as the House will probably be pre- 
pared to hear, far too large a proportion of the in- 
crease from both these sources of Revenue was due to 
the consumption of spirits. That is a matter which, 
if it be in some sense one of financial congratulation, 
is a much greater and higher matter of regret." And 
again : '' I refer, as one main source of possible 
addition to the Revenue, to the vast increase in the 
consumption of spirits. You may say that it is a 
very dangerous thing to rely upon. It is dangerous 
and not very pleasant, I admit, to rely upon the 
increase in the consumption of spirits as a source of 
future Revenue. It may also be said that the time 
may come when a check will come, and that source 
of Revenue may fail you. I have asked myself how 
is it that you expect this source of Revenue will 
fail? ... It must be from one of two causes — 
either from some general failure of the consuming 
power of the people — from some failure in their 
ability to purchase spirits, the will remaining as it 
was — or from some great change in the habits of the 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 69 

people, inducing tliem to abandon the use of such, 
enormous quantities of ardent spirits. If it were 
the former, it would tell upon all the sources of 
Revenue just as well as upon that derived from 
spirits. . . . But if the reduction of the Eevenue 
derived from spirits be due to the other cause — -if it 
should be due to a material and considerable change 
in the habits of the people and to increasing habits 
of temperance and abstinence from the use of ardent 
spirits — / venture to say that the amount of wealth such 
a change loould bring to the nation loould utterly throw 
into the shade the amount of Revenue that is now derived 
from the spirit duty^ and we should not only see with 
satisfaction a diminution of the Eevenue from such a 
cause, but we should find in various ways that the 
Exchequer would not suffer from the losses which it 
might sustain in that direction." ^ 

The fundamental defect in the fiscal argument — as 
all these extracts show — is that it tacitly assumes that 
money that is spent on alcoholic liquors only comes 
into existence when the liquors are bought ; or that if 
not spent on alcohol it must "take some impalpable, 
untaxable form and diffuse itself in expenditures from 
which no Chancellor of the Exchequer could draw 
any profit." It forgets that all expenditures are not 
equally productive, and that non-productive expendi- 
tures, from the view of highest national progress, are 
essentially wasteful. It is well to tax such expendi- 
tures, but " it is puerile to be glad that there should 
be a great deal of such expenditure to be taxed, as if 
a source of revenue were created by its own wasteful 
use, or as if it would run dry if it were used not 
wastefully but frugally and reproductively. England 
^ Hansard's Debates, 



70 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

can drink much beer because she is rich ; she is not 
rich because she drinks much beer." ^ 

COMPAEISON WITH THE UnITED StATES. 

But apart from any question of the absolute economic 
importance of the figures of drink expenditure in this 
country, they have a comparative significance which 
it may be well at this point to consider. If, for 
example, we take the corresponding figures for the 
United States — a country whose racial traditions are 
sufHciently akin to our own to make the comparison a 
fair one — and compare them with our own, the result 
is both interesting and suggestive. 

The following tables give the average per capita 
consumption of spirits, wine, and beer, together with 
the per capita consumption of absolute alcohol, in both 
countries for the five years 1894-1898: — 





United Kingdom. 


United States. 




English Gallons. 


English Gallons 


Spirits . . . 


. . 1-00 . . . 


. . -93 


Wine . . . 


•39 . . . 


. . -28 


Beer .... 


. . 30-60 . . . 


. . 12-60 


Absolute Alcohol . 2-08 . . . 


. . I'OO 



That is to say, the per capita consumption of absolute 
alcohol in the United States is barely one-half (48 per 
cent.) of the per capita consumption in the United 
Kingdom. ^ 

If, therefore, we could reduce our national con- 

^ Manchester Guardian, November 4tli, 1898. 

^ The alcoholic strength of beer has been taken at 4 per cent, 
in America and 5 per cent, in the United Kingdom. The 
alcoholic strength of wine has been taken at 15 per cent, 
in both countries, 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 71 

sumption of alcoliolic liquors to even tlie measure of 
the American consumption — a by no means extreme 
suggestion — our national drink bill would at once be 
reduced by £66,000,000 ^ — a sum tbat is equ.al to {a) 
more tban one-lialf of the national revenue, or (&) 
more than three times the amount of the Share 
Capital of all the Industrial and Provident (Co- 
operative) Societies registered under the Industrial 
and Provident Acts in the United Kingdom. 

Or, to put it in another way, the amount saved by 
this moderate reduction in the consumption of alcoholic 
liquors in the United Kingdom would be sufficient not 
only to provide all the funds needed for a national 
scheme of Old Age Pensions {i.e., £26,000,000), but 
also to secure the entire extinction of the National 
Debt in less than sixteen years. In view, therefore, 
of the magnitude of these figures, which, it is im- 
portant to repeat, are based upon an estimated re- 
duction in consumption that is neither utopian nor 
unreasonable, but well within the reach of wise social 
and legislative arrangements, it is extraordinary that 
the subject has not received more definite and sus- 
tained consideration from political thinkers and states- 
men. 

'^ The actual figures would be as under : — 







Expenditure on 




Present Expenditure 


basis of American 




{i.e., in 1899). 


Consumption. 


Spirits . 


. . £46,196,788 . . 


. £42,963,012 


Wine . 


. . 14,995,778 . . 


. 10.766,199 


Beer 


. . 99,470,908 . . 


. 40,958,609 



£160,663,474 £94,687,820 

Total amount of reduction, £65,975,654 
The reduction in expenditure on wine and spirits, it will be 
noticed, would be comparatively small, nearly the whole of the 
reduction occurring in the expenditure on beer. 



72 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

Influence of Climate on Consumption. 

But it may be said tliat the per capita consumption 
in this country cannot be brought down to that of 
the United States on account of the character of the 
English climate. A people living under the clearer 
skies, and in the more exhilarating air of America, 
will not have the same craving for alcohol — so it may 
be urged — that is found in this country. The thought 
still lingers that the influence of climate is of so 
dominating a character that it will be the main factor 
in determining the consumption in any country, and 
that no Temperance propaganda or change in law can 
greatly affect it. That climate has an influence upon 
both the kind and volume of drink consumed is 
obvious, but the evidence certainly does not suggest 
that this influence is so arbitrary and powerful as 
many modern writers — following Montesquieu — ap- 
pear to assume. It is probable that the influence of 
climate and of external conditions is far greater in the 
early than in the later stages of civilization. But 
whether this be so or not, there is abundant evidence 
to show that among modern nations the influence of 
climate upon drink consumption is relatively small. 
Let us take as an illustration three of the northern 
nations of Europe belonging to the same race, and 
speaking almost the same language, namely, Sweden, 
Norway, and Denmark. Now, if climate determined 
consumption, we might expect to find the amount of 
liquor consumed practically the same in each of these 
three countries. But what are the facts ? The con- 
sumption of spirits and beer in Sweden is more than 
double that of Norway, and the consumption of the 
same liquors in Denmark is again more than double 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 73 

that of Sweden. The following figures give the aver- 
age per capita consumption of spirits and beer ^ in 
each of these countries for the five most recent years 
(i.e., 1894-98) for which official statistics are avail- 
able : — 

Spirits. Beer. 

English Gallons. English Gallons. 

Denmark 3-3 19'7 

Sweden 1-6 8-8 

Norway -63 4*1 

But the evidence does not end here. At the beginning 
of the present century Norway was one of the most 
drunken countries in Europe. At the present time 
it is the most sober country in Europe. In Sweden, 
again, the consumption of proof spirits in 1829-30 
was about 10 gallons, and in 1855 between 5 and 6 
gallons per head of the population. At the present 
time it is only Ij gallons. The reduction in each case 
has been brought about, not by any change of climate, 
but by wise legislation inspired and sustained by 
Temperance sentiment. 

As a matter of fact, when we inquire in what 
European country the per capita consumption of 
alcohol is greatest, we find that the highest figures 
are reached, not in any fog-bound northern nation, 
but in "Sunny France."^ 



^ The consumption of wine in these countries is so slight an 
not to affect the comparison. 

^ With regard to the great increase in late years of the con- 
sumption of alcohol in France, see (Appendix, p. 622) the remarks 
made by the Commission appointed by the French Chamber in 
1897 to inquire into the question and report thereon. In the 
departments of the north-west it is stated "that the daily con- 
sumption of alcohol absorbs half the average salary of the 
working populaiion,^^ 



74 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

The following table — which is bas.ed upon the latest 
ofdcial figures ^ — gives particulars of the per capita 
oonsumption of absolute alcohol in the principal coun- 
tries in Europe. In order to eliminate, as far as 
possible, merely accidental variations, such as some- 
times affect the statistics of a single year, an average 
for five years has, wherever possible, been adopted :^— 



Consumption of Absolute Alcohol.^ 

Per Head of the 

Population. 
English Gallons. 

France 3-56 

Belgium 2-83 

Switzerland 2-76 

Denmark 2*43 

Spain 2-33 

Italy 2-30 

Austria 2-08 

Germany 2-08 

United Kingdom 2-08 

Portugal 2-07 

Hungary 1*50 

Sweden 1-16 

Holland 1-00^ 

United States I'OO 

Eussia '61 

Norway '52 



^ Board of Tirade Return, No. 57 (1900): supplemented by 
information derived from official sources in other countries. 
^ The full details of the table are given in the Appendix. 

See p. 613. 
^ In the compilation of the above table, the alcoholic strength 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 75 

The figures seem to sliow conclusively that the 
influence of climate is far less powerful in deter- 
mining the consumption of alcohol than is often 
supposed.^ 



COMPAKISON WITH THE BkITISH CoLONIES. 

It will be interesting in this connection if we further 
compare the statistics of consumption in the United 
Kingdom with those for the British Colonies. The 
figures — which are based upon the average consump- 
tion for the five years 1894-8 — are as follow : ^ — 



of beer has been taken at 5 per cent, for the United Kingdom 
and 4 per cent, elsewhere. Wine has been taken at 15 per cent, 
for the United Kingdom and the United States ; 12 per cent, in 
Italj^, and 10 per cent, elsewhere, except that in Norway it is 
taken at 10 per cent, up to 1896, and 15 per cent, since. 

* Exclusive of beer, for which no statistics are available. 

^ The Bulletin Eusse de Statistique Financiere et de Legisla- 
tion of January, 1899, after an examination of the facts relative 
to the effects of climate upon the consumption of alcohol, 
adds : — 

" En presence de ces chiffres, on se demandera sans doute 
comment a pu se perpetuer la legende de 1 'influence du climat 
sur la consommation. Nous ne pouvons fournir a cet egard que 
deux hypotheses : 

" 1. En matiere de statistique, une opinion a d'autant plus de 
chances de s'accrediter qu'elle est en contradiction plus evidente 
avec les faits et la raison." 

The second hypothesis was that the true figures of consump- 
tion had not until recently been ascertained. 

^ For full particulars of the comparison, see Appendix, p. Gl-1, 



76 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

Consumption of Absolute Alcohol. ^ 

Per Head of the 
Population. 

English Gallons. 

United Kingdom 2-08 

Western Australia 2'32 

South Australia — Northern Territoiy . . 1-36 

Victoria \ . 1-19 

Queensland 1-07 

Cape of Good Hope '91 

New South Wales -90 

New Zealand '73 

South Australia (except Northern Terri- 
tory) "63 

Tasmania -56 

Canada '52 

Natal -20 

Newfoundland -19 

The figures are interesting and might well claim 
fuller discussion than is possible here, but it must 
suffice to point out that they are hardly explained by 
considerations of climate alone. 



NuMBEE OP Licensed Premises. 

The facts that we have so far examined become 
more intelligible when we consider how widespread 
are the facilities for obtaining alcoholic liquors in the 
United Kingdom, and how enormous is the tempta- 
tion that is thus presented. In the Appendix to the 
present volume,^ particulars are given of the number 
of premises licensed to sell intoxicants in the three 
divisions of the United Kingdom. The mode in 

^ The alcoholic strength of Beer has been taken at 5 per cent, 
for both the United Kingdom and the Colonies, and that of 
Wine at 15 per cent, for the United Kingdom and 12 percent, for 
the Colonies. 

2 See p 667. 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 77 

wHich the traffic is conducted differs slightly in each 
division ; in Scotland, for example, the proportion of 
"off" licences to " on " licences is much greater than 
in the other divisions of the kingdom ; but the excess 
of facility is common to all. 

(a) Etigland and Wales. 

Speaking broadly, the number of places licensed by 
justices for the retail sale of liquor in England and 
Wales is 125,000,^ of which about 67,000 are fully 
licensed houses, and about 30,000 are beer-houses. 
The proportion of "on" licences to "off" licences is 
about 5 to 1. The proportion would be much greater 
but for the number of '' off" licences in the boroughs. 
In the country districts the number of "off" licences 
is comparatively small. Indeed, in 72 country dis- 
tricts there are no " off" licences. 

The excess in the existing number of licences is 
especially apparent in the towns. In London (Metro- 
politan Police Area^) the total number of licensed 
premises in 1896 was 14,039, or one to every 446 
inhabitants. In the smaller area represented by the 
Administrative County of London,^ the total number 
of licences issued in the same year was 11,811,^ or one 
to every 50 inhabited houses. The total rateable 
value of the licensed premises in London (Administra- 



For the actual figures, see Appendix, p. 667. 

Population (1896) 6,259,966. 

Population (1896) 4,433,018. 

Licences issued to Victuallers .... 8,826 

To sell beer to be drunk on the premises. 2,338 

To sell beer to be drunk oif the premises 647 



11,811 



{Statistical Abstract for London^ 1897, p. 57.) 



78 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

tive County) is £1,754,335 — a sum that is equal to 
{a) nearly six times tlie total rateable value of 
all the Board Schools and Voluntary Schools in the 
metropolis, or (&) one-twentieth part of the total valua- 
tion of London. But these figures, covering as they 
do a wide area, give a very inadequate idea of 
the real situation. To understand how excessive the 
number of public-houses really is, it is necessary to 
examine the districts in Central and East London. 
One such district is shown in the annexed map 
(Plate 1). It covers, it will be seen, an area of about 
nine-sixteenths of a square mile, and includes the 
districts of Soho, St. Giles-in-the-Fields, etc. In this 
area there are no less than 259 public-houses, or an 
average of one to every 193 persons of the population.^ 
But London is not exceptional in this respect. Much 
the same condition of things exists in all our large 
towns.^ Manchester, for example, has nearly 3,000 
licensed premises, or one to every 180 inhabitants 
Liverpool has 2,310, or one to every 279 inhabitants 
Birmingham 2,300, or one to every 215 inhabitants 
Sheffield has 1,841, or one to every 176 inhabitants 
while Bristol has 1,173, or one to every 195 inhabit- 
ants. 

(b) Scotland. 

If we turn to Scotland, the figures, although much 
smaller, are still excessive. The number of " on " 
licensed premises in Scotland is, in round numbers, 
7,500. Of these all but 220 sell spirits. The ''off" 
licences number 4,200. Of these, again, all but about 
340 sell spirits. Edinburgh has one licensed house 

^ For further particulars of London, see Appendix, pp. 670-1. 
^ See x^ppendix, p. 669. 



PLATE I. 
MAP SHOAVING NUMBER OF PUBLIC HOUSES IN A DISTRICT OF CENTRAL LONDON. 




° ■» 


,io 




is: 


,«.Jo 


l>"tmn„u 


'Of Public 
se (0 mery 


Hou 


Zl. 


txoluding 
blied Houses. 



' \%.^\W# Ms "^"^ 



Estimated number of Inhabited Houses 4300 
Estimated Population 50,000. 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 79 

to every 378 inlia bit ants ; Glasgow, one to every 401 
Paisley, one to every 392 ; Dundee, one to every 369 
Aberdeen, one to every 367 ; Leitb, one to every 274 
and Grreenock, one to every 358 inhabitants. 

(c) Ireland. 

The great feature of the licensing system in Ireland 
is the overwhelming preponderance of public-houses. 
Out of a total of 18,532 retail licences, no fewer than 
16,826 are ''on" licences. In the towns the figures 
are almost incredibly high. In Clonmel, for example, 
oyie out of every 11 houses is a licensed house ; in 
Waterford, one out of every 15 ; in Limerick, Queens- 
town and Kilkenny, one out of every 17 ; in Cork, 
one out of every 19 ; in Dublin and Belfast, one out 
of every 33. The ratio of licensed premises to popu- 
lation in these towns is given in the Appendix.^ It 
will be seen that it ranges from one licensed house 
to every 78 persons in Clonmel, to one to every 275 
persons in Dublin. 

Happily, in many parts of the kingdom (in 
England and "Wales especially), the number of 
licensed houses is either stationary or tends slowly 
to decline. Comparing the returns for 1896 with 
those for 1886, we find that 56 boroughs and 82 
Petty Sessional Divisions show a decrease in the 
number of '' on " licences during the ten years. This 
is satisfactory so far as it goes, but the reduction has 
been so slight, and the numbers remaining are so 
enormous, that its effect is hardly appreciable. One 
of the most noteworthy reductions has taken place in 
London, where (taking the whole of the licensing 
divisions) 613 " on " licences disappeared between 
1 See p. 673. 



8o THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

1886 and 1896. But while this is matter for con- 
gratulation, its comparative insignificance is realized 
when it is noticed that even if the same rate of re- 
duction were to continue, it would take nearly two 
centuries to extinguish the present number of " on " 
licences in London, while it would take nearly 
seventy years to bring them down to the limit pro- 
posed in Mr. Bruce's Bill. 

Inceeased Size of Public-Houses. 

But a more serious fact remains, and that is, 
that the small reduction in the number of public- 
houses and beer-shops has been more than out- 
balanced by the reconstruction and enlargement of 
those that remain, "While Temperance workers have 
been steadily endeavouring to reduce the number of 
public-houses, the publicans and brewers have been 
busily intent upon increasing their size. The re- 
duction in numbers has affected, for the most part, 
the smaller and least profitable houses only, but these 
have been largely replaced by huge " gin palaces," 
capable both by attractiveness and accommodation of 
much more extended mischief.^ Of 250 pul^lic-houses 

1 The change was noted by the Lords' Committee on In- 
temperance in 1879. In discussing it in their Eeport, the 
Committee say: ''It is to be remarked that in large towns, 
while the pnblic-houses have decreased in number, they have 
increased in size, and in the amount of accommodation which 
they afford. The evidence from Liverpool is conclusive on this 
point. It appears, moreover, that a great number of public- 
houses have been converted into ' vaults ' or ' gin palaces,' which 
are mostly spirit-drinking places, where people stand to drink, 
the drink being served over the counter. These vaults are a 
modern creation, and their mischievous character is recognised 
by all the witnesses from the large towns where they exist in 
the greatest number." 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 8i 

in Central London, which, were examined in 1897, 61 
had three entrances ;^ 65, four ; 18, five ; 4, six ; 3, 
seven ; and 2 eight entrances. The average for the 
whole of the 250 was three entrances per house. Of 
37 public-houses examined in another district in the 
North-west of London — a district comprising less 
than a quarter of a square mile — 15 had three en- 
trances ; 5, four ; 2, five ; 1, six ; and 1 eight : the 
average being three entrances per house. Of 76 
public-houses in a closely adjacent district (covering 
about a quarter of a square mile), 17 had three en- 
trances ; 18, four ; 13, five ; 2, six ; and 2 eight. The 
average in this case was 3J entrances per house. 

The situation is further aggravated by the number 
of separate com^partments. Thus, of the 76 public- 
houses just mentioned, 23 had four separate compart- 
ments ; 17, five ; 9, six ; 1, seven ; 3, eight ; while 3 
others had nine, thirteen, and fifteen respectively. 
The average for the 76 houses was nearly five (4f) 
separate compartments per house. These figures, 
although high, are hardly to be considered excep- 
tional in the central districts of London. Of the 250 
public-houses previously referred to, 96 had four 
separate compartments; 51, five; 31, six; and 12 
seven ; the average for the whole number being 4 J 
per house. 

In the face of these figures it is easy to realize the 
force of Lord Randolph Churchill's statement that 
" the system of reckless profusion in the sale of 
alcoholic liquor, and the fatal facility of recourse to 
the public-houses, makes it extremely difficult for 

^ By entrance is here meant a separate lobby or doorway 
opening directly upon the street. 

6 



82 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

multitudes of persons, in view of tlie hardships of 
their lives, to avoid or resist intemperance." ^ 

Peevalence of Deunkenness. 

It remains briefly to consider the extent to which 
drunkenness now prevails as compared with former 
years. 

The statistics of prosecutions upon which such 
comparisons are usually based are far from being 
completely satisfactory ; but, inasmuch as they con- 
stitute the only possible data for such comparisons, 
we are compelled to accept them. The following 
table, which has been compiled from the most recent 
fflcial figures,^ gives the average number of persons 
proceeded against for drunkenness in England and 
Wales for each quinquennial period since 1857 — the 
first year of the Judicial Statistics : — 

Average No. of Persons pro- 
ceeded against for Drunkenness 
Quinquennial Period. per 1,000 of population. 

1857-61 4-28 

1862-66 4-78 

1867-71 5-47 

1872-76 7-83 

1877-81 7-25 

1882-86 6-90 

1887-91 6-19 

1892-96 5-84 

1896 6-09 

The figures, it will be seen, show a considerable 

^ Speech in tlie House of Commons, April 29th, 1890. 
^ Judicial Statistics {England and Wales), 1896. Part I, 
Criminal Statistics. 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 83 

and steady decline since 1872-76 (wlien the con- 
sumption of alcohol was quite abnormal), but it is 
nevertheless disquieting to discover that the average 
number of prosecutions for drunkenness in the five 
years 1892-6 (the latest years for which statistics are 
published) was 36 per cent, higher than the average 
for 1857-61, and 22 per cent, higher than the average 
for 1862-6. That the increase is partly due to more 
efficient police administration in recent years is prob- 
able, but that this is not a complete explanation of 
the figures is made evident by an analysis of the 
general statistics of crime during the same period. 
The figures are given in detail elsewhere,^ and a 
reference to them will show that while crime gener- 
ally has decreased 24 per cent, in England and "Wales 
since 1857-61, drunkenness has increased 36 per cent. 
If we limit the comparison to a period of thirty years, 
and compare the five years 1862-66 with the fiYQ 
years 1892-96, the result is still discouraging. The 
figures show a decrease in crime of 30 per cent., and 
an increase in drunkenness of 22 per cent.^ 

GEOaEAPHICAL DiSTEIBUTION OP DRUNKENNESS. 

The accompanying map ^ (Plate II) shows the geo- 
graphical distribution of offences of drunkenness in Eng- 
land and Wales in the five years 1889-93. Speaking 
generally, it may be said that drunkenness is chiefly 
prevalent in the seaport and mining districts. If a 
line be drawn from the mouth of the Severn to the 

^ See Appendix, p. 676. 

^ See also the recent increase of drunkenness in London 
(Appendix, p. 677). 

^ Eeproduced by permission from the Judicial {Criminal) 
Statistics for 1893. 



84 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

Wash, it will be found that the ''black" counties 
without exception lie to the north-west of this line. 
The worst counties in England and "Wales in the 
matter of drunkenness are ISTorthumberland, Durham, 
Lancashire and G-lamorganshire, while Pembrokeshire 
and Shropshire follow close behind. The most sober 
counties, on the other hand, are Cambridgeshire, 
Suffolk, Huntingdonshire, Oxfordshire, and Wiltshire. 
Averages based upon the returns of entire counties 
do not, however, afford a complete guide to the dis- 
tribution of drunkenness, inasmuch as offences are 
not equally distributed over the whole area of a 
county. A heavy ratio of drunkenness in a small 
district may often give a county an unfavourable 
position in the general averages, notwithstanding 
favourable conditions in the rest of its area. A much 
better classification is that adopted by the compiler 
of the Judicial (Criminal) Statistics for 1894, and 
which is represented in the following table :^ — 

Drunkenness 
(No. of offences in 1894) 
per IjOOO Population. 

Seaports 12-60 

Mining Counties 11*36 

Metropolis 6-37 

Manufacturing Towns 4*70 

Pleasure Towns 2-89 

Agricultural Counties : — 

Home Counties 2*45 

South-western Counties 2*09 

Eastern Counties ........ 1*09 

England and Wales 6'16 



^ The areas are as follow : — 

Seaports, — Birkenhead, Cardiff, Hull, Liverpool, Newcastle- 



PLATE II. 

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF DRUNKENNESS. 




THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 85 

Intemperance among "Women. 

Further analysis of tlie statistics of drunkenness 
shows that from 28 to 30 per cent, of the total 
number of offences are committed by women. In 
the larger towns the proportion, as a rule, is higher. 
In London, 38 per cent, of the drunkenness is attri- 
butable to women ; in Manchester, 36 per cent. ; in 
Belfast and Grlasgow, 32 per cent. In Liverpool, on 
the other hand, the proportion is only 24 per cent. 

The much controverted question as to whether in- 
temperance is increasing among women can hardly, 
however, be decided by an appeal to the criminal 
statistics. So far as these statistics throw any light 
at all upon the question, they suggest important local 
differences. The figures given elsewhere ^ show that 
in both London and Liverpool there has been a notice- 

on-Tyne, Newport (Mon.)? Southampton, South Shields, Swansea, 
Tynemouth. 

Mining Counties. — Derbyshire (excluding Derby Borough) 
Durham (excluding Hartlepool, South Shields, and Sunderland), 
Glamorgan (excluding Cardiff and Swansea), Monmouth (ex- 
cluding Newport), Northumberland (excluding Newcastle and 
Tynemouth). 

Metropolis. — Metropolitan Police District and City of London. 

Ma7iufacturing Towns. — Birmingham, Blackburn, Bradford, 
Derby, Halifax, Hanley, Huddersfield, Leeds, Leicester, Not- 
tingham, Oldham, Preston, Sheffield, "Wolverhampton. 

Pleasure Towns. — Bath, Brighton, Eastbourne, Folkestone, 
Hastings, Leamington, Margate, Eamsgate, Scarborough, Tun- 
bridge Wells. 

Agricultural Counties. — (County police districts only). 

Home Counties. — (Countj^ police districts only.) Essex, Kent, 
Surrey, Herts, Bucks, Berks. 

South-western Counties. — Dorset, Hants, Somerset, "Wilts. 

Eastern Counties. — Norfolk, Suffolk, Hunts, Cambridge. 

^ See Appendix, pp. 677-679. 



S6 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

able decline in tlie proportion of offences of drunken- 
ness recorded against women in the last twenty years. 
In 1875, 47 per cent, of the total number of persons 
arrested for drunkenness in London were women. In 
1895 the proportion had fallen to 41 per cent., and 
in 1897 (when the number of arrests per 1,000 of the 
population was almost identical with that of 1875) 
to 39 per cent. In Liverpool the decline has been 
less marked, the proportion falling from 26 per cent, 
in 1876-80 to 24 per cent, in 1891-95. Manchester 
and Glasgow, on the other hand, show a not less 
marked increase. 

A further and perhaps more direct clue is afforded 
by the Registrar-Greneral's annual return of deaths 
directly attributed to intemperance. The figures are 
given below. In order to eliminate accidental varia- 
tions, the comparison is based upon the average 
mortality during four consecutive quinquennial 
periods : — 

Average No. of Deaths 
from 
Qainquennial Intemperance Males. Females. 

Period. (England and Wales) . Per cent. Per cent. 

1877-81 .... 1071 69 .... 31 

1882-86 .... 1320 66 .... 34 

1887-91 .... 1710 64 .... 36 

1892-96 .... 2044 61 .... 39 

The figures are certainly striking. They show, it 
will be noticed, that out of every 100 deaths from 
alcoholic excess in England and Wales at the present 
time, women contribute eight more than they did 
twenty years ago. 

If, instead of taking the total number of deaths, we 
take the ratio per million persons living, the increase 
is seen even more clearly : — 



THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 87 

Males. Females. 

Ratio per million living. Ratio per million living. 

1877-81 ... 60 25 

1882-86 ... 67 32 

1887-91 ... 79 ... • 42 

1892-96 ... 86 51 

It thus appears that while the ratio of mortaUty 
from alcoholic excess has increased 43 per cent, among 
males during the last twenty years, among females it 
has increased by no less than 104 per cent. 



CHAPTEE II 
The Social and Political Menace 

AMONG the obstacles that stand in the way of any 
comprehensive measure of Temperance reform, 
the most serious is to be found in the magnitude of 
the vested interests, and in the number of persons in- 
terested in the maintenance of the traffic. Now what 
is the extent of these vested interests ? 

The Brewers' Almanack for 1898 gives a list of 119 
Brewery and Distillery Companies in the United 
Kingdom which are quoted on the London Stock 
Exchange, and which have a Share and Debenture 
Capital of £70,319,188. Sixty-seven of these do not 
show any " Ordinary Shares." This is due to the 
Ordinary Shares being in private hands, and conse- 
quently having no Stock Exchange quotations. The 
seventy millions therefore by no means represent the 
total capital of these companies. Probably in a good 
many cases Preference Shares are also in private 
hands. 

To the above list must be added the Companies not 
quoted on the London Stock Exchange, and the large 
number of private concerns.^ The total sum invested 

^ The 42nd Eeport of the Commissioners of Inland Eevenue, 
p. 22, gives the following table of the number of brewers in the 



THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL MENACE 89 

in the trade is stated by the Brewers' Almanack^ to be 
as follows: — 

Capital value of Breweries and Distil- 
leries and their licensed property in £ 
the United Kingdom 200,000,000 

Capital value of all Licensed Houses not 

included in the above, say . . . 20,000,000 

Capital value of the Wine and Spirit 
Trades, and all other trades in con- 
nection with alcoholic liquors, say . 10,000,000 

£230,000,000 



United Kingdom for the j^ear ending 30tli September, 1898 :- 



Number of Brewers 










as represented by 


Number of Barrels of Beer brewed of Specific 


tlae No. of Licences 




Gravity of 1-055°. 




issued. 












Barrels. 




Barrels. 


5,782 






Under 


1,000 


1,023 


1,000 and under 


10,000 


293 


10,000 


55 


5? 


20,000 


140 


20,000 


JJ 


55 


30,000 


131 


30,000 


;? 


55 


50,000 


91 


50,000 


55 


55 


100,000 


24 


100,000 


55 


55 


150,000 


9 


150,000 


y, 


)j 


200,000 


8 


200,000 


V 


55 


250,000 


— 


250,000 


n 


55 


300,000 


3 


300,000 


55 


55 


350,000 


2 


350,000 


55 


55 


400,000 


— 


400,000 


j: 


55 


450,000 


8 


450,000 


55 


55 


500,000 


— 


500,000 


57 


55 


550,000 


1 


550,000 


?5 


55 


600,000 


5 


600,000 


5) 


55 


1,000,000 


10 


1,000,000 and 


over 




7,530* 





* The actual number of brewers to whom licences were 
issued was 7,388. A brewer may bold more than one licence. 

The number of distillers in the United Kingdom for the year 
ending September, 1898, was 197. 

* Brewers^ Almanack, 1898, p. 333. 



90 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



The estimate of Temperance writers is even higher. 
Mr. James Whyte, the Secretary of the United King- 
dom Alliance, says : '' Capital amounting to from 
£250,000,000 to £300,000,000 sterling is invested in 
the liquor trade of this country." ^ 

Under the wide extension of the Limited Company 
System these millions are distributed among a large 
body of shareholders. An examination of the share 
lists of ■B.ye large Brewery Companies, made up to 
August, 1897, gives the following results : — 





Number of Shareholders. 




Ordinary 


Preference 


Total. 


\i- 


Arthur G-uinness, Son & Co., Ltd. 
Bass, Eatcliff & Gretton, Ltd. 

Threlfall's Ltd.2 

Combe & Co., Ltd 

Samuel Allsopp & Co., Ltd. . 


5,450 

17 

577 

10 

1,313 


3,768 
1,368 
872 
1,040 
2,189 


9,218 
1,385 
1,449 
1,050 
3,502 


aolders of Debent 
pital are not in ai 
case included. 




7,367 


9,237 


16,604 


k' 



^ Alliance Budget, 1898. The following statement is also of 
interest in tbis connection : " The trade in alcohol, in the several 
forms of beer, wine, and spirits, is one of the very largest in the 
world. The capital embarked in it in Europe alone defies all 
calculation, but is certainly far more than a thou:sand millions 
sterling." A. J. Mott, F.G.S. Transactions of the National 
Association for the Promotion of Social Science. Conference on 
Teynperance Legislation, 1886, p. 13. 

^ The directors of Threlfall's Ltd. are seeking to add to '• the 
influence of the Company " by a policy which, if successful, will 
greatly increase its electoral power. " At an ' extraordinary 
general meeting ' of shareholders, it has been decided that the 
shares of the company, which have been of £10 value, shall be 
split into shares of £1 each — each of the old shares, that is to 
say, becoming ten shares. At the meeting at which it was 
decided to make this change, some significant remarks were 
made by the chairman, Mr. W. A. Matheson, J.P., and by a Mr. 
Alfred Tyrer, who seconded the proposal that the change in the 



THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL MENACE 91 

It thus appears tliat the ordinary and preference 
shareholders alone in five large Brewery Companies 
number 16,604. If the debenture capital be as widely 
distributed, the number of share and debenture holders 
will, together, be 27,052.^ Still more significant, as 
bearing upon the effect which the holding of these 
shares must have upon public opinion, is the social 
position of many of the shareholders. In the two first- 
named Companies, especially in Gruinness & Co., peers 
and titled persons and doctors are, after women, the 
most numerous class. In the same Company are 178 
persons bearing the title of " Eev.," including bishops, 
deans, archdeacons, and canons. In the other four 
Companies there are 133 persons designated as "Rev."^ 
It is to be remembered that every new shareholder in 
a brewery adds to the number of those who have a 
direct interest in resisting any interference that will 

vahie of the shares should be made. The hoard were of opinion^ 
said the chairman, that the splitting of the £10 shares into ten 
of £1 would increase the number of the shareholders, and 
thereby add to the influence of the company. By the proposed 
arrangement, said Mr. Alfred Tyrer, working men and artisans 
would be able to purchase the shares at the present reduced 
pricey Alliance News, February 15th, 1900. 

^ The capital of these five Companies is £15,820,000; viz., 
Ordinary and Preference Share Capital, £9,710,000, and Deben- 
ture Capital, £6,110,000. If the whole of the 119 Brewery and 
Distillery Companies quoted on the Stock Exchange have the 
same proportion of share and debenture holders in relation to 
their capital, the number will amount to 120,245. From this 
number some deduction must, however, be made to meet the 
case of duplicate holders. 

^ In the course of recent investigations, the present writers 
were informed by the deputy-chief of the police in Stockholm 
that, in Sweden, it is an offence against the law for governors, 
clergy, doctors in the public service, schoolmasters, judges, 
police officials, and burgomasters to hold shares in distilleries. 



92 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

cripple its opportunity of earning dividends. This 
transference of direct pecuniary interest from a limited 
number of individuals, or firms, to an almost unlimited 
number of the general public cannot fail to have a 
large influence in hindering a reform of the licensing 
laws.^ 

We have seen that in 1898 there were in the United 
Kingdom 7,388 brewers and 197 distillers^ — a body 
whose influence will be persistently and resolutely 
exercised against any legislation calculated to restrict 
sales. As the Times said in a leading article on Sep- 
tember 12th, 1891 : '' The natural tendency of a brewer 
is simply to push the sale of his beer. Provided no 
forfeiture of the licence be incurred, the especial manner 
in which the business is conducted does not matter 
much to him. His main desire is that the 7ieighhourhood 
shall drink as much as possible.''^ 

The manner in which the influence of the Trade is 
exercised is apparent from its official statements. Thus 
the Executive of the National Trade Defence Fund, 
established in 1888, set forth that '' Its objects are to 
watch at all times the general interests of the whole 
Trade in and out of Parliament ; to secure by all legal 

^ This is well understood by tlie Trade. The Licensed Vic- 
tuallers^ Official Annual for 1896 (p. 205), describing the steps 
taken by the Trade to influence the General Election of 1892, 
says : " A stirring manifesto was sent from the Central Offices 
to every Licensed Victualler in the Metropolitan constituencies. 
Test questions were laid before the whole of the candidates for 
Parliament. Their replies were duly considered, and directions 
given as to how the Trade votes should go in each case. On the 
completion of the list of candidates, it was sent with a covering 
circular to all members of the Trade in London, as icell as to 
thousands of shareholders in breweries and distilleries^ 

^ 42nd Report of the Commissioners of Inland Eevenue, p. 31. 



THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL MENACE 93 

means, regardless of party politics, the return to the 
House of Commons, and other elected bodies, of candi- 
dates favourable to Trade interests ; to federate existing 
Societies ; to decide upon the general policy of defence ; 
and generally to do all things that the Committee 
shall deem to be for the interests of the Trade." ^ 

The Licensed Victuallers' Central Protection Society 
of London thus defines its objects : — 

" To watch all proceedings in Parliament with a 
view to taking such steps as may be deemed necessary 
to promote or defeat measures introduced therein ; to 
represent the views of the London Trade upon all 
questions touching its interests ; to aid in securing to 
the Trade such Parliamentary, Municipal and Parochial 
representation as is necessary for the protection of its 
interests ; and the federation with all local Metro- 
politan Societies, so as to form a central Society to 
adequately represent the Trade." 

And the Beer and Wine Trade National Defence 
League names as its object : "To promote, support, or 
oppose Bills in Parliament, and to assist in the return 
to Parliament of candidates favourable to the interests 
of the Trade." 

The ominous note in these declarations of policy is 
the avowed determination of the associations to act 
upon the principle of " Our trade our politics." ^ In 

^ See pp. 94-5. 

^ Mr. Charles Walker, Chairman of the Licensed Victual- 
lers' Central Protection Society, writing in the Fortnightly 
Review for May, 1893, says : " Attacked on all sides by pro- 
posals and threats which struck at their existence, they adopted 
the motto, ' Our Trade our Politics,' and loyally carried out the 
policy which that motto covered." 



94 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

place of that conception of citizenship which would 
seek the highest good of the nation or of the munici- 
pality, Parliamentary and Local candidates are to be 
supported or opposed with primary reference to their 
attitude towards the Trade. 

The degradation of public life which must follow 
the adoption of such a policy has been forcibly insisted 
upon by the Right Hon. H. H. Asquith. Speaking 
in 1895, he said : ^' I do not hesitate to say that if 
politics are to become the battle-field of organized and 
privileged interests, and if the electors are to be 
invited to subordinate their views upon all the larger 
questions of public policy to bring them into harmony 
with the requirements of a particular trade, we are 
entering upon an era of demoralization in British 
politics." 

This " subordination of the larger questions of public 
policy " to the interests of the Trade cannot be looked 
upon as any passing phase. As the struggle between 
the forces of Temperance and of the Trade becomes 
more acute, the traffic will seek to protect itself 
by controlling Municipal and State legislation. No 
secrecy is maintained as to either its aims or methods, 
as will be seen by the following extracts from an 
article on " Trade Electoral Organization, " which 
appears in the Breivers^ Almanack for 1894, signed by 
the Manager of the National Trade Defence Fund 
(pp. 161-65) : '' After a period of lamentable inac- 
tivity, the Trade realized the necessity of self-organi- 
zation for electoral purposes, and for the past few 
years has been actively engaged in forming itself into 
a strong and compact non-political body for the most 
practical of all objects — self-defence. " 

Then, referring to the introduction of the Liquor 



THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL MENACE 95 

Traffic (Local Control) Bill in March, 1893, the writer 
proceeds : " Fortunately for the Trade, this declaration 
of war did not find them unprepared. Their leaders 
had seen the necessity for organization for electoral 
purposes as distinct from former antiquated combina- 
tions for social intercourse and protection as Traders. 
Meetings had been held, funds had been collected, 
officers had been elected, and a policy framed — nothing 
was wanted to unite the Trade bu.t an outward and 
visible foe, who made his appearance in the Chancellor 
of the Exchequer. 

" The Direct Veto was met by the only answer the 
Trade could give, a direct No ; and the opportunity 
arrived of putting to practical test the value of our 
improved organization, of which we had had a satis- 
factory trial at the General Election (of 1892)." 

" Organization is the process of forming instru- 
ments of action. "When the time for action arrives 
those instruments should be ready : the organizer 
therefore must not remain inactive until that time 
comes. . . ." 

" No amount of ' paper ' organization from a central 
office will be of any practical use unless the local instru- 
ments are to hand ^ and prepared to act. ..." 

" Our one object is to return, hy all legitimate means ^ 
regardless of politics, to the House of Commons and other 
administrative bodies^ candidates favouraUe to Trade 
iyiterests. . . ." 

" When the Trade fully realizes its political pos- 
sibilities in a state of efficient organization, it will 
become a poiver in the StateJ^ 



96 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

The entire article powerfully suggests the opera- 
tions of an elaborate political organization, directed by 
qualified leaders,^ working through the agency of 
more than 125,000 licensed houses, and supplied with 
unlimited funds. ^ The significance of the whole is 
summed up in the passage already quoted. " No 
amount of ' paper ' organization from a central office 
will be of any practical use unless the local instruments 
are to hand and prepared to work." The proposition 
may appear to be self-evident, but its real import- 
ance and bearing upon practical legislation has been 
strangely overlooked. We shall have occasion to 
refer to the point further on. Here it will suffice to 
show how numerous and effective the '' local instru- 
ments " are. 

The following figures give the total number of 
licensed premises in the United Kingdom in 1896 : ^ — 



* The Licensing World of July 12th, 1895, referring to the 
General Election Campaign of that year, says : " The Board 
{i.e., the Board of the Licensed Victuallers' Central Protection 
Society of London) has at its command at this moment a great 
number of assistants specially skilled in every department of 
activity now called for, and these men are simply working 
night and day. The Chairman, Secretary, and the principal 
members of the Executive — the very cream of the elected 
leaders of the Trade — are daily, we may say almost hourly, in 
consultation, directing the work of the vast organization under 
their command, and applying the forces of the Trade with what 
we believe will prove to be unerring skill." 

2 "Mr. Bass told the world that for every pound put down by 
the Alliance, he and his friends would put down a hundred." — 
Sir George 0. Trevelyan, Speech delivered at Edinburgh, 
November 28th, 1875. 

^ Royal Commissio7i on Liquor Licensing Laws, Vol. V. 
(Statistics). 



THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL MENACE 97 



England 
and Wales. 


Scotland. 


Ireland. 


Total. 


" On" Licensed Premises 
"Off" 


101,903 
24,041 


7,402 
4,224 


16,826 
1,706 


126,131 
29,971 


125,944 


11,626 


18,532 


156,102 



In considering tliese figures, it is to be remembered 
tliat each of the 126,131 " On" licensed houses — to say- 
nothing of the 29,971 ''Off" licensed houses— will 
have its own circle of customers, a certain proportion 
of whom will unquestionably be influenced by the 
proprietor.^ The " local instrument " which the 
organizers of the Trade desire is thus ready to their 
hand in a singularly efficient form. The publican, 
like all other tradesmen, wishing to sell as much as 
he can, will energetically resist the candidature of men 
who would seek to restrict the national consumption. 



^ The influence upon public opinion and tlie electoral force 
likely to be exercised by tliese Licensed Houses becomes apparent 
by a comparison of their number with that of existing agencies 
for education and moral progress. 

The number of Primary Day Schools (Inspected) in England 
and Wales in 1896 was 19,848 (44th No. of Statistical Abstract, 
p. 255), or less than one-sixth of the number of houses licensed 
for the retail sale of liquor. That is to say, for every primary 
day school there are more than six licensed houses for the sale 
of liquor. 

Again, from the Census for 1891 (vol. III., page 10), it appears 
that in England and Wales the 

Clergy of the Established Church numbered 24,232 

Eoman Catholic Priests 2,511 

Ministers of other Religious Bodies . . , 10,057 



36,800 
So that for every Christian minister, as above, there are 
more than three places licensed for the retail sale of liquor. 

7 



98 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

How this vast influence is exercised in Parliament- 
ary Elections will be familiar to tlie reader. 

The rival candidates are catechised upon their 
position in regard to the Trade, and, irrespective of 
whatever national questions may be at stake, the 
Trade influence is cast on the side of the candidate 
whose answers are deemed the most satisfactory. 
Under these circumstances, it was perhaps inevitable 
that the support of the Trade should eventually be 
given to one of the great parties in the State. And 
such has been the case. The Brewers^ Almanack has, 
in each yearly issue, a full list of the Members of 
Parliament, with their attitude to the Trade indicated 
by the words " Favourable," '^ Against," '' Doubtful." 
Turning to the Almanack for 1896 — the one next 
following the General Election of 1895 — we find that 
of the Conservative and Unionist Members, 388 are 
marked as ''Favourable," 9 as "Against," and 13 as 
" Doubtful." If Great Britain alone is taken, there is 
only one Conservative or Unionist member marked 
as "Against." The sharpness of the line of cleavage 
between the two Parliamentary parties upon this 
question is further shown by the fact that of the 
Liberal Members 172 are marked as " Against," only 
5 as " Favourable," and 2 as " Doubtful." 

It would be a serious mistake to conclude from 
these figures that the entire Conservative party in the 
constituencies is hostile to licensing reform. Many, 
of its members deplore that the supposed exigencies of 
party warfare should have ranged their representatives 
in support of the Trade. Not only do many Conser- 
vatives give laborious service in personal Temperance 
effort, but cordially support the far-reaching legisla- 
tive proposals of the Church of England Temper- 



THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL MENACE 99 

ance Society. The frank recognition of these facts 
heightens, however, our seiise of the menace exercised 
by the Trade. It has not only been able to impose 
its demands upon the representatives of a great party, 
but it has done so notwithstanding the existence 
of a considerable body of opinion hostile to such 
demands. 

It now remains to be considered what is the direct 
effect upon the Parliamentary representation brought 
about by the action of the Trade. Upon this question 
the most conflicting opinions are put forward, some 
holding that the effect is insignificant, others that it 
is exceedingly marked. It is possible, however, to 
bring this matter to a test, which, whilst making no 
claim to scientific accuracy as to the exact measure of 
the influence exerted, affords decisive evidence upon 
the question whether the influence is, or is not, great. 

The number of ''On" licensed houses in England 
and Wales in 1896 was 101,903 ; in Scotland, 7,402 ; 
and the total Electorate in England and Wales at 
the time of the last Greneral Election in 1895 was 
4,959,805, and in Scotland 636,097.^ 

It is easy, therefore, to calculate the number of 
"On" licensed houses in each electorate upon the 
assumption that each electorate has its proportionate 
share. As a matter of fact, the number of licensed 
houses in each electorate will sometimes exceed, and 
in other cases fall below, the proportionate share. 
But it is doubtful whether this uneven distribution 

* The following calculations are confined to England, "Wales, 
and Scotland, as in Ireland the ordinary lines of political 
cleavage do not exist, the Nationalist question overshadowing 
every other, and any figures taken from Ireland could onl3- be 
misleading. 



100 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

of the licensed houses will materially affect the general 
conclusions which we deduce. 

The General Election of 1895 may be taken as 
the one in which for the first time (at any rate in 
recent j^ears) the Trade put forth its full electoral 
strength.^ 

The extent and direction of this influence may be 
taken from the following declaration of the Trade, 
extracted from the Licensed Victuallers^ Official Annual 
for 1896 : " From the beginning of the year (1895) 
the Executive of the Central Board had devoted its 
chief thought to preparing for the dissolution, which 
every one saw was looming ahead. A Special Elec- 
toral Department was formed and worked up to a 
high state of efficiency, as was shown in the County 
Council Elections, and also in the bye-election at 
Walworth, consequent on the death of Mr. W. Saun- 
ders, M.P. In this latter contest, by far the most 
important bye-election of the year, the Conservatives, 
almost solely through the efforts of the London re- 
tailers, and the electoral organization of the Central 
Board, were able to win a Radical seat by a magnifi- 
cent majority, and to ring the knell of the Rosebery 
administration. From the moment when the disso- 



^ Mr. Charles Walker, Cliairman of the Licensed Vic- 
tuallers' Central Protection Society, writing in the Fortnightly 
Revieiv for May, 1893, says : " Whatever strength the Trade 
possessed at the last {i.e. the 1892) General Election will be 
found multiplied at the next. Sir William Harcourt's Bill 
has had the effect of welding the whole Trade — wholesale and 
retail — into one homogeneous bodj^, and of substituting for that 
apathy ivhich has been our reproach an enthusiasm which is 
prepared to go all lengths permitted hj the law and to make all 
sacrifices demanded by the occasion, in defence of our property 
and our homes." 



THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL MENACE loi 

lution was certain, the electoral forces of the Board, 
raised to their highest strength, occupied the field, 
and simply pervaded every constituency within the 
scope of the Board's operations ... in fine, all 
that experience could suggest, or energy realize, was 
done to crush the enemies and secure victory. The 
result was so magnificent that it needs no emphasizing 
from us." 

Assuming then the electoral efforts of the Trade 
to have been as stated, we have to consider what 
effect these efforts had upon the results of the General 
Election. For the purpose of this inquiry, a list of 
those constituencies has been made out in which a 
contested election resulted in the return of either a 
Conservative or a Unionist candidate, and in which 
the transfer of one or two votes for every " On " 
licensed house from the Conservative or Unionist to the 
Liberal side would have affected the result. Opposite 
each name has been entered the majority by which 
the Conservative or Unionist candidate was returned ; 
while in a second column has been entered the propor- 
tionate number of '^ On " licensed houses in the con- 
stituency. The number of votes which, upon the 
average, an '' On " licensed house would be able to 
influence and transfer from one side to the other can 
only be estimated. The calculation may, however, be 
confined to the effect of the transfer of one vote ^ and 
of two votes ; although experienced electioneers, to 
whom the estimates have been submitted, regard even 
the higher as inadequate. Upon these low estimates, 

* To transfer a vote from one side to the other — from Candi- 
date A to Candidate B — is, of course, equivalent in effect to 
inducing two voters, who would not otherwise have voted, to 
support Candidate B. 



102 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

however, the results are startling in their magnitude. 
At the G-eneral Election of 1895, the number of 
seats contested in England, Wales, and Scotland, 
which resulted in the return of Conservative or 
Unionist candidates was 270. Now what would 
have been the result in these 270 elections had the 
influence of the " On " licensed houses been elimi- 
nated ? We may calculate it first upon the assump- 
tion that each '^ On " licensed house caused the 
transfer of only one vote from the Liberal to the 
Conservative or Unionist candidate, and, secondly, 
upon the assumption that each " On " licensed house 
caused a similar transfer of two votes. Upon the first 
supposition, 83 of the 270 seats would have been won 
by the Liberals, and upon the second supposition, a 
further number of 69 seats, making 152 in all, would 
have been so won.^ To tabulate the result : — 



Conservatives 



Liberals 



Upon the first supposition, ^^,^et™di'*' returned. Total. 

the apportionment of 
the 270 seats would 

have been 187 83 270 

Upon the second supposi- 
tion, the apportionment 
would have been ... 118 152 270 

The Conservative and Unionist majority, after the 
General Election of 1895, reached the high figure of 
152. It gives one some idea of the portentous power 
exercised by the Trade to note that but for its influ- 

^ In the Appendix will be found a detailed list of the 152 in- 
stances in which, but for the assumed transfer of votes, a Liberal 
would have been elected in place of a Conservative or Unionist. 
Seep. 680. 



THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL MENACE 103 

ence exercised tlirough the assumed transfer by each 
" On " licensed house of but a single vote, the Con- 
servative majority would have been swept away. 
For if 83 be deducted from the Conservative majority, 
and the same number be added to the Liberal return, 
the Conservatives are left in a minority of 14. 
Equally startling is it to see that, but for the influ- 
ence of the Trade exercised through the assumed 
transfer by each licensed house of two votes, the 
Liberals, instead of being in a minority of 152, would 
have had a majority of 152, obtained in about equal 
numbers from the Borough and County constitu- 
encies.^ 

In order to show that these remarkable results are 
not due to any special accident in the election figures 
of 1895, a similar table has been prepared for the 
Election of 1892.^ In that year the electorate for 
England and Wales numbered 4,770,088, and for 
Scotland 606,403. The "On" licensed premises are 
taken at 103,000 for England and Wales, and at 7,500 
for Scotland. The exact figures are not available, 
but these estimates may be taken as below the mark. 
Following the exact lines of the inquiry for 1895, we 
may note that in 1892 the number of seats contested 
in England, Wales, and Scotland which resulted in 
the return of Conservative or Unionist candidates was 

^ That tlie result is not materially affected by basing the 
calculation upon the proportionate number of licensed bouses 
rather than upon the actual number (which is not to be obtained 
for more than a few of the Parliamentary areas) is shown by 
the fact that in the case of certain Boroughs where the Parlia- 
mentary area coincides with the Licensing area, and where 
the actual figures are available, the result is substantiall3^ the 
same. 
^ See Appendix, p. 688. 



104 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

258. The influence of the Trade may be again calcu- 
lated upon the two suppositions — first, that each 
licensed house caused the transfer of one vote only 
from the Liberal to the Conservative or Unionist 
candidate; and, secondly, that each licensed house 
caused a similar transfer of two votes. Upon the first 
supposition, 72 of the 258 seats would have been won 
by the Liberals, and upon the second supposition, a 
further number of 59 seats, making 131 in all, would 
have been so won. To tabulate the result : — 

Upon the first supposition, Conservatives Liberals rr , ^ 
\-i ,• ^^ , p aud Unionists „„+„„„ „j iotai. 

the apportionment OI returned. returned. 

the 258 seats would 

have been 186 72 258 

Upon the second supposi- 
tion, the apportionment 
would have been ... 127 131 258 

The Liberal majority at the General Election of 
1892 was 40. Apart, however, from the influence 
assumed to have been exercised by the Trade through 
the transfer by each '' On " licensed house of but a 
single vote from the Liberal to the Conservative or 
Unionist candidate, the Liberal majority would have 
been, not 40, but 184 ; while but for the influence 
exercised through a similar transfer of two votes, the 
Liberal majority would have been larger than any 
majority since the Reform Bill of 1832,^ viz., 302. ^ 

* Majorities at eacli General Election since 1832 : — 



1832 


L. 


300 


1857 


L. 


92 


1880 


L. 176 


1835 


L. 


108 


1859 


L. 


40 


1885 


L. 170 


1837 


L. 


40 


1865 


L. 


60 


1886 


C. 118 


1841 


C. 


79 


1868 


L. 


100 


1892 


L. 40 


1847 


L. 


2 


1874 


C. 


52 


1895 


C. 152 


1852 


C. 


8 













* It is interesting in this connection to quote the following 



THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL MENACE 105 

In the foregoing calculations, no account has been 
taken of the influence exerted by the " Off" licensed 
houses, which in 1896 numbered 24,041 in England 
and Wales, and 4,224 in Scotland. The influence of 
the ^'Off" licences, although less than that of the 
*' On " licences, must be very considerable. Nor has 
any account been taken of the constituencies in which 
there was no contest. The figures which have been 
given, however, indicate that many majorities now 
regarded as too great to overcome would be enormously 
reduced if the influence of the Trade were withdrawn. 

It would be a grave mistake to treat this question 
as primarily one between Liberals and Conservatives, 
or to assume that the thoughtful members of the 
party, which, so far as voters are concerned, now 
benefits by the alliance with the Trade, regard this 

passage from Mr. Chamberlain's pamphlet, The Eight Method 
with the Publicans, publislied in 1876 : " In boroughs where 
parties are evenly divided, it is too much to expect that either 
side will incur the reprobation of a powerful trade which 
furnishes one householder to every thirty, and each member of 
which boasts that he can bring five voter's to the i^oliy To 
bring five voters to the poll is equivalent to transferring 2^ 
votes from one side to the other. 

Writing from Toronto on September 15th, 1898, the corre- 
spondent of the Voice said : "Two secret circulars sent out by 
the executive of the Ontario Licence Holders' Protective 
Association have just come to light, and reveal the desperate 
tactics and tyrannical methods of the Ontario whisky sellers. 
They are headed with the names of the executive. The first 
circular calls for a special assessment by each local association 
for the campaign, and includes the following significant sen- 
tences : ' Our success in the fight will depend upon the thorough 
manner in which each individual will carry out the plan in 
his own immediate vicinity. The convention considered that 
each licence-holder should be at least able to poll 25 friendly 
votes.' " 



io6 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

alliance with satisfaction. No statesman, whether 
Conservative or Liberal, would for one moment 
imagine that the building up of a rightly ordered 
commonwealth is likely to be furthered by the elec- 
toral support of a monopolist class whose '' one object " 
is ^' to return candidates " who will carry out its own 
behests. Nor is any institution which is worthy to 
be " conserved " likely to be ultimately strengthened 
by such support. It is not matter for wonder that 
statesmen are dismayed at the growth of a power 
which threatens to dominate the legislature, a power 
whose '' one object is to return, by all legitimate 
means, regardless of politics, to the House of Commons 
and other administrative bodies, candidates favourable 
to Trade interests." ^ Lord Rosebery, among others, 
has shown himself keenly alive to the danger, as will 
be seen by a few extracts from recent speeches : — 

'' I am not a fanatic in Temperance reform. I am, 
I hope, a sensible and level-minded politician on that 
and on all other subjects, but I cannot but be struck 
by the pathetic urgency with which the appeals for 
dealing with this question come from every part of 
England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales ; and though I 
say I am not a fanatic on this question, I view the 
uncontrolled condition of our liquor traffic as a serious 
danger, for two reasons. 

" In the first place, no one can deny that there is a 
great deal too much drink in this country, and that 
much of the crime, and much of the pauperism, and 
almost all the degradation prevalent in this country 
are attributable to the curse of drink. That does not 

1 See article already quoted on '' Trade Electoral Organiza- 
tion," by Mr. H. A. Newton, Manager, National Trade Defence 
Fund, in Brewers' Almanack for 1894, p. 164. 



THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL MENACE 107 

mean, of course, that there should be no use, but it 
does mean that there should be a check placed on 
abuse. But the second point on which I regard it as 
a danger is this, that it is becoming too great a power 
in the State. I go so far as to say this, that if the 
State does not soon co7itrol the liquor trafjic^ the liquor 
trafflc will control the State. ''^ Again: — 

" Then there is the great contest with regard to 
alcoholic liquors. That involves a twofold conflict. 
In one aspect, that in which it is meant to promote 
Temperance, it has my heartiest sympathy \ but in 
another aspect it has even more — my most enthusiastic 
support — and that is that it will put an end to a 
political ring which threatens to throttle and control 
the Commonwealth itself ^ 1 

And again : — 

'^ I see the danger coming nearer and nearer, that 
owing to the enormous influence wielded, directly and 
indirectly, by those who are concerned in upholding 
the drink traffic, we are approaching a condition of 
things perilously near the corruption of our political 
system.^^ 

Hitherto in this chapter, attention has been concen- 
trated upon the menace of the Trade to the Imperial 
Legislature. But the menace reaches far beyond this. 
In the avowed objects of the Trade Defence Associa- 
tions are passages like the following : '' To aid in 
securing to the Trade such Parliamentary, Municipal, 
and Parochial representation as is necessary for the 
protection of its interests " ; " to secure by all legal 
means, regardless of party politics, the return to the 
House of Commons, and other elected bodies, of candi- 

1 The Times, July 3rd, 1895. 



io8 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

dates favourable to Trade interests." At the Annual 
General Meeting of the South London Licensed 
Victuallers, reported in the Morning Advertiser of May 
6 th, 1898, the Secretary stated " that the Committee 
strongly urged the members to take an active interest 
in the coming vestry elections." Mr. Meech also 
referred " to the vital necessity for the Trade interest- 
ing itself in the elections." Nor can it be said that 
the Trade has been slow in acting upon this counsel. 

The Licensed Victuallers'' Official A^mual for 1896, in 
its chapter on '* Four Years of Organized Work : a 
Story of Triumphant Success," states : " Just prior 
to the General Election (1892) the Board (i.e., the 
Board of the Licensed Victuallers' Central Protection 
Society of London) had also thrown upon its hands 
the important work of conducting the triennial election 
of the London County Council. The County Council 
Election took place early in March, but the Executive 
entered into the fray with whole-hearted zeal. All 
the candidates were questioned, a list of those to be 
supported by the Trade was prepared and advertised 
in the public Press, and all other necessary steps, such 
as those mentioned in connection with the General 
Election, were rigorously and promptly taken." 

The London County Council elected in 1892 never- 
theless excited the hostility of the Trade ; and when 
the triennial elections came round in 1895, '' it was 
felt" — so says the Licensed Victuallers^ Official Annual — 
'^ that they demanded the most energetic intervention 
of the Trade. The Progressive majority returned in 
1892 had proved bitterly hostile to the liquor in- 
dustry." Among other crimes, "it started a crusade 
of ' purity,' which, though directed nominally at the 



THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL MENACE 109 

music-lialls, was intended ultimately to undermine the 
whole licensing system." " Elaborate electioneering 
preparations were made under the supervision of the 
Electoral Department of the Board ; operators were 
provided wherever needed ; the efforts of the local 
societies were backed ^up in all ways ; lists of candi- 
dates favourable to the Trade were prepared, and the 
influence of the Trade urns exercised to the utmost in 
every division throughout the Metropolis y 

" The result of a clear stand-up fight was that our 
foes were simply smashed. . . . By the common 
consent of friends and foes alike this splendid result 
was due more directly to the influence exercised by 
the Trade, under the leadership of the Central Board, 
than to any other force. Radical newspapers and 
Nonconformist ministers naturally deplored what they 
openly admitted to be a great triumph for the Trade ; 
and the National Trade Defence Fund, as representing 
the "Wholesale and Retail Traders of the United King- 
dom, passed a vote of thanks and congratulations to 
the Board upon the great work it had done." 

Other influences, as is well known, helped to deter- 
mine the results of the London County Council Election 
of 1895. But, remembering the effect that would be 
produced upon the constitution of Parliament by the 
transfer, through each public-house, of one or two 
votes from the candidate of one party to the candidate 
of the other, it may be assumed that, except on occa- 
sions when London is deeply stirred, the Trade will 
be able to exercise an enormous influence upon the 
character and personnel of its governing body ; an 
influence that will be used " regardless of politics " to 
return candidates favourable to " Trade interests." 



no THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

Eacli year witnesses a growing perception of tlie 
place and importance of municipal government. The 
healtli of the community, drainage, the cleanliness of 
streets and courts, the housing of the working classes, 
the provision of open spaces and playgrounds, public 
baths, the efficiency of the police, the management of 
asylums, facilities for technical education, and, not 
least, the wise and economical administration of the 
City funds, are among the matters with which City 
Councils have now to deal, and upon the intelligent 
and honest treatment of which the conditions of life 
in the district will depend. 

It is a grave menace to municipal life when a 
powerful and wealthy trade, possessing exceptional 
means of influencing the electorate, disregards the 
claims of civic patriotism and subordinates questions 
of public welfare to the return of candidates '' favour- 
able to Trade interests." 

The danger in its acute form is of recent growth. 
Hitherto, we have prided ourselves upon the purity of 
our municipal life, and so long as the community did 
not interfere with the drink traffic, the Trade had no 
need to concern itself with municipal contests. 

Mr. Cosmo Bonsoe, M.P., President of the Licensed 
Victuallers' Central Protection Society of London, 
speaking as recently as April 12th, 1892, at the in- 
augural banquet of the new Board, said : '' You have 
never before been properly organized ; you have never 
been united ; now . . . you are both organized and 
united." 

It is clear, therefore, that just in proportion as the 
State or Municipality attempts to make its arrange- 
ments favourable to Temperance, will the Trade seek 



THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL MENACE in 

to protect itself by controlling Municipal and State 
legislation. 

In tlie United States the danger has been fully 
realized. ^'The liquor trafHc, being very profitable, 
has been able, when attacked by prohibitory legisla- 
tion, to pay fines, bribes, hush money, and assess- 
ments for political purposes to large amounts. This 
money has tended to corrupt the lower courts, the 
police administration, political organizations, and even 
the electorate itself. Wherever the voting force of 
the liquor traffic and its allies is considerable, candi- 
dates for office and office holders are tempted to serve 
a dangerous trade interest, which is often in antago- 
nism to the public interest. Frequent yielding to 
this temptation causes general degeneration in public 
life, breeds contempt for the public service, and, of 
course, makes the service less desirable for upright 



Writing of the Tammany Ring of New York, Mr. 
McKenzie (author of Sober by Act of Parliament) 
says : " The plunderers are elected to office mainly by 
the saloon vote." And again : "Moreover, any party 
of reform has to reckon with the thirty thousand 
votes of the city drink-sellers and their men, which 
are cast solid for Tammany so long as it helps them. 
Without the saloon and its help, Tammany would not 
keep together for twelve months ; but, with its in- 
fluence on its side, it is no easy task to overcome it," 
The Right Hon. James Bryce, in his chapter upon 
" The Tammany Ring in New York City," says : 
"Considering what by origin, by training, by en- 

^ The Liquor Problem in its Legislative Aspects. By tlie 
" Committee of Fifty." 



112 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

vironment, and by tastes and habits, are the persons 
who rule the city through Tammany — considering 
the criminal element among them, and their close 
association with the liquor saloon^ it may excite sur- 
prise that the government, corrupt as it is, is not also 
more wasteful." ^ 

It appears probable that the main source of the 
municipal misrule prevalent in the cities of the Union 
which so impresses European observers is to be found 
in the saloon system. A writer in the Atlantic 
Monthly^ says: "To think of political reform with 
the influence of the saloon in politics what it is seems 
almost fatuous. To discuss the subject of political 
reform without taking this weighty factor into con- 
sideration seems almost puerile. To belittle the im- 
portance of the saloon is most dangerous. To essay 
compromise with it is a fatal mistake. In the nature 
of the case it must be eliminated, or it must dominate 
everything. Full freedom having been accorded it 
thus far, it has made a long stride toward dominion. 
Even among those who clearly recognise the perils of 
the situation, it has become an axiomatic statement 
that it is useless to oppose the saloon in the cities.'' 

Those who have studied the volumes of evidence of 
the Royal Commission on the Liquor Licensing Laws 
will be cognizant of the dangers already threatening 
the municipal life of this country through the in- 
fluence of the drink traffic — -especially in relation to 
the action of Watch Committees, and the adminis- 
tration of the Police. Not only are there the glaring 
scandals of Manchester and Wigan, but abundant 

^ The American Commonioealth, vol. II., p. 402. 
^ G. F. Parsons, The Saloon in Politics. 



CHAPTER III 

State Prohibition 

Witli the exception of the introductory pages — which are 
substantially the same as in the earlier editions of this 
work — this chapter is almost entirely new. The former 
chapter was wholly based upon official and other docu- 
mentary evidence, which, although of unquestionable 
authority and accuracy, and the latest available, practi- 
cally ceased with the year 1893.^ In the summer of 1899, 
however, one of the present writers was able to make 
careful personal investigations into the working of the 
prohibitory and other liquor laws in the United States 
and Canada, and the results of those investigations are 
incorporated in the present chapter. It was at first in- 
tended merely to supplement the former chapter with 
the later facts, but the new information obtained was so 
voluminous and important, and the available space in 
the present volume so limited, that it was subsequently 
decided to entirely re-write the chapter, giving prefer- 
ence to the later information. The student of the 
question will, however, probably continue to find the 
earlier chapter useful as a study of the condition of 
things existing in Maine and other States prior to 1894. 

It will be noticed that the evidence contained in the 
present edition points to a much more serious and 
systematic violation of the prohibitory law in Maine than 

^ Mr. John Koren's investigations — the latest then avail- 
able — were undertaken in the summer of 1891, but the evi- 
dence collected chiefly refers to the years prior to that date. 
The investigations of the Eoyal Canadian Commissioners 
were made in 1893. 

115 



ii6 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

was suggested by the former chapter. The explanation 
of this is simply that in the earlier statement the evi- 
dence referred chiefly to the years 1891-3, when, as we 
now fully know, a temporary but resolute effort was made 
to enforce the law in Portland. That effort, however, 
was short-lived, and the situation since that time has 
been much more serious than that which confronted the 
Royal Canadian Commissioners in 1893. 

Of tbe numerous suggestions made for the solution of 
the drink problem, that which aims at the total sup- 
pression of the traffic through the exercise of a prohi- 
bitive veto naturally claims first attention, inasmuch 
as it represents the deliberate policy of an influential 
section of Temperance reformers whose convictions are 
entitled to full respect. Two methods have been 
adopted for securing the suppression of the traffic, 
namely, State prohibition, which is arbitrarily applied 
to all localities in the State, irrespective of local 
opinion ; and local option^ which vetoes the traffic only 
where local opinion demands such a veto. It is with 
the former method (i.e.. State prohibition) that the 
present chapter is exclusively concerned. 

It is unnecessary to lay stress upon the abstract side 
of the question, inasmuch as the practical possibilities 
of the system are sufficiently suggested by important 
historic experiments. That certain a priori objections 
have been urged against the principle of prohibition 
is true, but they are not of a kind which call for special 
consideration here. The objection, for example, that 
it is an unwarrantable interference with individual 
liberty is probably more academic than real, and is 
hardly supported by political practice. The organic 
unity of society is a cardinal principle of political 
science against which the individualist may be said to 
protest in vain. The oft-quoted passage in which John 



STATE PROHIBITION 117 

Stuart Mill condemned the Maine Law, and behind 
which much of the current a priori opposition to pro- 
hibition shelters itself, becomes far less convincing 
when it is remembered that it depends entirely for its 
weight upon his assumption that ^' the act of drinking 
fermented liquors belongs to acts and habits which are 
not social, but individual," and the statement is itself 
sufficiently refuted by other passages of the same 
essay. For instance, it is Mill himself who tells us that 
*' as soon as any part of a person's conduct affects pre- 
judicially the interests of others, society has jurisdic- 
tion over it, and the question whether the general 
welfare will or will not be promoted by interfering 
with it becomes open to discussion. ... To in- 
dividuality should belong the part of life in which it 
is chiefly the individual that is interested ; to society, 
the part which chiefly interests society. . . . "When- 
ever, in short, there is a definite damage, or a definite 
risk of damage, either to an individual or to the public, 
the case is taken out of the province of liberty, and 
placed in that of morality or law." ^ 

The same broad truth has been stated in other words 
by an even greater authority, whose philosophical 
judgment was cert,ainly unbiassed by fanatical con- 
siderations. " Every one," says Immanuel Kant, 
''may seek his own happiness in the way that seems 
good to himself, provided that he infringe not such 
freedom of others to strive after a similar end as is 
consistent with the freedom of all according to a pos- 
sible general law." The only questions, indeed, in 
philosophy as in politics, are — (1) whether the social 
consequences of the evil as it exists are sufficiently 
grave to justify] the stringent character of the 
^ Essay on Liberty. 



ii8 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

suggested remedy, and (2) whether that remedy carries 
within itself a sufficient promise of practical success. 
In other words, the question is practical rather than 
philosophical, and to be determined by experiment 
rather than by logic. "Whatever may have been the 
accepted social philosophy in England forty years ago, 
it is hardly necessary to-day to point out that a theory 
of society that aims at the complete autonomy of the 
individual is not only essentially anarchic, but, from 
the view of social politics, entirely impracticable.^ 



PROHIBITION IN THE UNITED STATES. 

The United States of America fui-nish the only 
instance of prohibition on a scale sufficiently large to 
entitle it to be considered a satisfactory test of the effi- 

^ The position and policy of tlie State in regard to tTiese 
questions are admirably stated in the Eeport of the 
Select Committee (House of Commons) on Intemperance 
in 1834. In summarising the results of its investiga- 
tions the Committee lays down the following broad 
conclusions : — 

(a) "That the right to exercise legislative interference for 
the correction of any evil which affects the public weal 
cannot be questioned, without dissolving society into its 
primitive elements, and going back from the combined 
and co-operative state of civilization, with all its whole- 
some and lawfully imposed restraints, to the isolated and 
lawless condition of savage and solitary nature." 

(b) " That the power to apply correction by legislative 
means cannot be doubted, without supposing the sober, 

. the intelligent, the just, and the moral portion of the 
community unable to control the excesses of the ignorant 
and disorderly, which would be to declare our incapacity 
to maintain the first principles of government by ensur- 
ing the public safety." 



STATE PROHIBITION 119 

ciency of the system.^ In one or two British Colonies 
a system of local prohibition has, it is true, from time 
to time been adopted ; ^ but the experiments in these 
cases have been too partial and intermittent to furnish 
so clear and conclusive a test of the system as is sup- 
plied by certain of the American States which it is 
proposed in the present chapter to consider. 

It is important, however, to notice at the outset a 
fact too frequently overlooked in the discussion of the 
question in England ; namely, that not even in the 
prohibition States of America has the suppression of 
the use of alcoholic liquors as beverages been attempted. 
In the sense in which the matter is sometimes con- 
ceived of in this country prohibition does not exist. 
The prohibitory laws in force in the United States aim 
merely at the suppression of the liquor traffic {i.e., the 
buying and selling of liquor for beverage purposes) 
within the boundaries of the particular States which 
have adopted such laws. In so far, however, as the 
traffic is, or may become, an inter-State or foreign 
traffic, it is subject to the Federal law. A citizen, for 
example, who resides in a State where a prohibitory 
law exists cannot be prevented by the laws of that 
State from purchasing liquor in some other State (or in 
a foreign country) where it is not illegal to make sales, 
and having it transported into his own State for his 
personal use. In other words, it is the local manufac- 
turer and the local dealer, and not the consumers of 
alcohol, who are placed under the ban of prohibition. 

Prohibition is now the law of five American States ; 

^ The case of Sweden is, of course, one of local option, applied 
to rural districts onl3^ In the present chapter the system of 
State prohibition is alone considered. 

2 See pp. 323-363. 



120 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

namely, Maine, Kansas, New Hampshire, Vermont, 
and North Dakota. Three of these have prohibition 
amendments to their constitutions. It has been tried 
and abandoned in Delaware, Rhode Island, Massa- 
chusetts, Connecticut, Indiana, Nebraska, Michigan, 
Illinois, Iowa, and South Dakota. 

The table on page 121 shows the States that have at 
different times adopted prohibition, and the duration 
of the experiment in each. 



Density of Population. 

If we carefully analyse the particulars given in 
that table, and compare the history of the prohi- 
bition experiment in each State with the statistics 
of population, area, etc., a remarkable result appears. 
It quickly becomes apparent that prohibition has 
only permanently succeeded {i.e., been continued) in 
sparsely [populated States, while it has invariably 
failed {i.e., been abandoned) in the more densely popu- 
lated States that have given it a trial. 

The following figures give the average density of 
population in {a) the five States in which prohibition 
still exists, and (&) the ten States that have tried and 
abandoned the system. The details of the comparison 
are given elsewhere : — ^ 





No. of Persons per Square Mile. 




When Prohibition 
was adopted. 


In 1890. 


Prohibition States . . . 
Ex-Prohibition States . . 


18 
44 


23 

98 



* See Appendix, p. 695. 



STATE PROHIBITION 



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122 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

It will thus be seen that, taking the last census 
(1890) as the basis of comparison, the average density 
of population of the States that have abandoned prohi- 
bition was four times as great as the average density 
of population of the States that have continued prohi- 
bition.^ If we confine the comparison to the three 
most densely populated States in each of the two divi- 
sions, a still more decisive result appears, the figures 
being in the proportion of more than seven to one.^ 



Pkopoktion of Urban Population. 

An even clearer indication of the relation which 
density of population bears to the success or failure of 
prohibition is seen when we compare the proportion of 
urban to rural population in {a) the States that have 
continued prohibition, and (&) the States that have 
abandoned prohibition. Before giving the figures, 
however, it is important to explain that, as commonly 
used in America, the terms " urban " and " rural " 
have not the same significance as in England, the 
word " town " being commonly applied to small and 
thinly populated centres that in England would be 
classed as " villages '' ; while even the word '' city " is 
frequently used to denote what in England would be 
regarded as a small town. For the sake of clearness, 
therefore, a uniform standard of comparison has been 
adopted, and in the following table the line separating 
"urban" and ''rural" districts has been drawn at 

^ It is to be noted, however, that several of the States that 
have abandoned prohibition as a State system have nevertheless 
made it possible of local enactment by substituting the principle 
of local option. See chapter iv. 

^ See Appendix, p. 696. 



PLATE III. 

DIAGEAM 

Showing the Density of Population in (a) Prohibition States, and 
(b) States that have abandoned Prohibition as a State Svstem. 



NORTH DAKOTA. 

4 persons to the 
sq. mile. 



KANSAS. 

17 persons to the 
sq. mile. 



MAINE. 

20 persons to the 
sq. mile. 



VERMONT. 

34 persons to the 
sq. mile. 



NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

40 persons to the 
sq. mile. 




NEBRASKA. 

14 persons to the 
sq. mile. 



IOWA. V 

MICHIGAN. 3 

34 persons to the 
sq. mile. 



INDIANA. -) 
ILLINOIS. f- 
DELAWARE. ) 

Averaging 

65 persons to the 

sq. mile. 



CONNECTICUT. 

150 persons to the 
sq. mile. 



MASSACHUSETTS 

and 
RHODE ISLAND. 

269 a,u(* 276 persons 

resprotively to the 

sq. mile. 



STATE PROHIBITION 



123 



towns of 8,000 inhabitants— tlie limit adopted by the 
United States census authorities. 

The figures, it should be noted, are in every case 
based upon the official census returns of 1890. 

Table showing the proportion of urban to rural 
population in (a) States that have continued prohibi- 
tion and (h) States that have abandoned prohibition : — ■ 



(a) States that have Continued Peohibition. 



State. 


Total 
Population. 


Urban Popu- 
lation {i.e., 
in towns of 

8,000 and up. 
wards). 


Rural Popu- 
lation (i.e., in 
towns of less 

than 8,000 
inhabitants). 


New Hampsliire 

Maine 

Kansas 

Vermont 

North Dakota 


376,530 
661,086 
1,427,096 
332,422 
182,719 


Per cent. 

28 

20 

12 

8 


Per cent. 
72 
80 
88 
92 
100 



(h) States that have Abandoned Peohibition 
(i.e., as a State system). 



State. 



Ehode Island . 

Massacliusetts 
Connecticut . 
Illinois . . . 
Delaware . . 
Michigan . . 
Nebraska . . 
Indiana . . . 
Iowa . . . . 
South Dakota . 



Total 
Population. 



345,506 
2,238,943 

746,258 
3,826,351 

168,493 
2,093,889 
1,058,910 
2,192,404 
1,911,896 

328,808 



Urban Popu- 
lation {i.e., 
in towns of 

8,000 and up- 
wards). 



Per cent. 
79 
70 
52 
39 
37 
26 
24 
18 
14 
3 



Rural Popu- 
lation ('i.e., in 
towns of less 

than 8,000 
inhabitants) . 



Per cent, 
21 
30 
48 
61 
63 
74 
76 
82 
86 
97 



124 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

If we carry our analysis further, and compare the 
proportion of population living in towns of (a) 30,000 
inhabitants and upwards, and (b) 50,000 inhabitants 
and upwards in the two divisions, the result is even 
more striking. 

Taking the five prohibition States, out of a total 
population in 1890 of 2,979,853 persons, only 149,874, 
or 5 per cent, of the whole, lived in towns of 30,000 
and upwards ; while there was no single town with a 
population of 50,000 and upwards. 

On the other hand, taking the ten States that have 
abandoned prohibition, out of a total population of 
14,911,458 persons, no fewer than 3,444,570, or twenty- 
three per cent, of the whole, lived in towns of 30,000 
and upwards ; while no less than 2,906,981 persons, or 
nineteen per cent, of the total population, lived in 
towns of 50,000 and upwards. 

The figures are certainly suggestive, and go far 
towards compelling a conviction of the impractica- 
bility of prohibition in thickly populated districts. 
As a matter of fact, prohibition, however successful in 
rural districts, has invariably failed when applied to 
important urban centres. 



PROHIBITION IN MAINE 

Proportion of Urban 
Population of State No. of Persons Population (i.e., in towns 

(1890). per square mile.^ of 8,000 and upwards). 

661,086 ... 20 ... 20 per cent. 

It is important, however, for the full investigation 
of this question to supplement the foregoing compari- 
sons with a thorough and systematic inquiry into the 

* For a comparison with England and Wales, see p. 248, 



STATE PROHIBITION 125 

actual working results of prohibition in sucli States 
as have adopted it. Considerations of space make it 
impossible to deal effectively with the history of the 
experiment in all the prohibition States. It has 
therefore been deemed advisable to select the principal 
and pioneer prohibition State for detailed examination 
here, and to deal with the history of the experiment 
in the remaining prohibition States in a more general 
and incidental way. The question of the practica- 
bility of State prohibition, it is not too much to say, 
virtually stands or falls upon the success or failure of 
the system in Maine. 

The system has been tried there for upwards of 
fifty years, under conditions, legislative and other, ad- 
mittedly as favourable as any that can reasonably be 
conceived of as existing elsewhere. It is therefore im- 
portant to consider carefully the results of the experi- 
ment and the measure of its success. 

The agitation in favour of prohibition in Maine 
began early in the thirties, and with it is intimately 
connected the name of General James Apple ton, who 
was the first to outline and advocate prohibitory legis- 
lation. In 1837, as chairman of a joint committee of 
the Legislature which reported in favour of prohibi- 
tion, he said : '' If we have any law on the subject, it 
should be absolutely prohibitory." The report was 
laid on the table. The effects were to follow later 
on. 

Amongst Greneral Appleton's most zealous co- 
workers was a young man, born in Portland in 1804, 
who has since been known to the world as the 
*' Father of the Maine Law." G-eneral Moai juow 
spent several years in canvassing the State, scattering 
Temperance literature, holding mass meetings, and 



126 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

delivering lectures. The combined efforts of the two 
men and their associates resulted in 1846 in the 
passage of the first prohibitory Act. It was a crude 
and unsatisfactory measure, and contained no adequate 
provision for the punishment of law-breakers or for 
the seizure of liquors illegally held for sale. 

It provided that the '' selectmen " might, at their 
annual meeting, license one person in every town of 
less than 1,000 inhabitants, two in any town having 
over 1,000 inhabitants, and from three to five in any 
town having over 3,000 inhabitants, to sell wine and 
strong liquors for medicinal or mechanical purposes 
only. All other sales were prohibited. 

Not satisfied, however, with the working of the 
law. General ^ Neal Dow and his supporters persevered 
in an agitation to amend it, and a Legislature pledged 
to prohibition was finally chosen. General Dow, then 
Mayor of Portland, himself drafted a Bill which he 
believed would be effective, and which he subsequently 
submitted to the leaders of the Temperance movement 
in Portland, who declared it improbable that such a 
measure would be passed by the Legislature. 

On April 29th, 1851, two days before the adjourn- 
ment of the Legislature, General Neal Dow arrived in 
Augusta, the State capital. 

'' The next morning he requested the Speaker of the 
House to immediately appoint a committee to consider 
his Bill, and to grant a hearing that afternoon. The 
request was granted both in the House and in the 
Senate. In the afternoon the Legislature adjourned 
to give him a hearing. The hall was crowded. He 

* Although here referred to as '' General," it was not until 
1862~in connection with the Civil "War— that Mr. Neal Dow 
was appointed Brigadier-General. 



STATE PROHIBITION 127 

spoke for an hour, and presented the Bill. It was 
rushed to the printer (who, curiously enough, was a 
rum-seller), and passed by a vote of 86 to 40 in the 
House, and by 18 to 10 in the Senate." Governor 
Hubbard, a Democrat, signed the Act on June 2nd, 
and the Bill became the famous Maine Law. 

The law prohibited any one from manufacturing or 
selling intoxicating liquors except for medicinal and 
mechanical purposes. It punished selling in violation 
of the Act — for the first conviction, $10 ; second con- 
viction, $20 ; and for a third conviction, $20, with im- 
prisonment for from three to six months. If the 
defendant prosecuted an appeal, he was to give bond 
not to violate any of the provisions of the Act pend- 
ing the appeal, and in the event of final conviction, 
he was to suffer double the punishment first awarded. 
The last clause was, however, declared unconstitutional 
by the Supreme Court. Search-warrants, seizure, and 
destruction of liquor found were authorised upon com- 
plaint of three inhabitants. 

In 1853 the law was amended so as to elaborate the 
seizure and forfeiture clauses, and provisions to meet 
cases of destroying liquors to prevent seizure were 
included. The penalties under the law were also 
increased. 

In 1855 an elaborate re-enactment of the law took 
place, the search, seizure, and forfeiture clauses es- 
pecially being worked out in minute detail. The 
penalties also were again increased. 

The year 1856, however, saw a revulsion of public 
sentiment which swept away all this legislation and 
substituted a licence law. 

This law lasted for about two years. In 1858 the 
question of licence or prohibition was again sub- 



128 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

mitted, witli tlie result that the latter was once more 
adopted. The new prohibition law was short and 
moderate. The first conviction for illegal sale was 
made punishable by a fine of $10, which rose to $20, 
and three months' imprisonment for a third offence. 
Another Act of the same year declared houses for the 
illegal sale of liquor to be common nuisances, and 
made the keeper liable to a fine not exceeding $1,000, 
or imprisonment for not more than one year, and 
made his lease void if a tenant. If the owner of the 
house was found to be privy to the sale, or knowingly 
to have permitted it, he was subject to the same 
penalty. A State Commissioner for providing liquors 
authorized to be sold by the municipal liquor agents 
was appointed in 1862, and civil damages were 
awarded by the Act of 1872. 

In 1884 a prohibitory amendment ^ to the State 
Constitution was adopted by a majority of 46,972, 
The total votes polled were, however, fewer by 
47,819 than the total number polled at the nearest 
political election. 

The law of 1858 is virtually the law of to-day, al- 
though in the intervening years between forty and 
fifty amendments have been made with a view of 
adding to its stringency.^ 

^ A Constitutional Amendment is a change whereby a princi- 
ple hitherto embodied in statute law only, becomes a permanent 
part of the State Constitution, and can thereafter only be re- 
scinded hy a formal vote of the people. In the event of a pro- 
posal to rescind a Constitutional Amendment, a resolution to 
re-submit the question to the people must first be adopted by a 
two- thirds majority of the legislature, after which a popular 
vote is taken in the State, the issue either way being decided by 
an absolute majority of the votes polled. 

^ See Cyclopcedia of Temperance and Prohibition, pp. 305-309. 



STATE PROHIBITION 129 

G-ENERAL EeSULTS OF THE Law. 

In attempting to estimate tlie general results of 
prohibition in Maine, it is necessary to emphasize one 
or two important considerations. In the first place, it 
is important to remember (a) that Maine is to a large 
extent an agricultural State, possessing practically no 
important industries outside its lumber trade and 
fisheries, and with no more than 11 per cent, of its 
population engaged in manufactures ; (h) that it is a 
sparsely populated State with a total population of 
less than 700,000 persons, of whom less than 200,000, 
or 30 per cent., live in towns having a population ex- 
ceeding 3,500, and only 130,000, or 20 per cent., in 
towns of 8,000 inhabitants and upwards, while at the 
last census (1890) there were only two towns or cities 
in the State with a population of more than 20,000, of 
which the chief (Portland) contained less than 37,000 
inhabitants. The entire State is peopled at the rate 
of 20 persons per square mile.^ Moreover, 88 per 
cent, of its population are native born. 

Secondly, in attempting to get at the facts, the 
distinction between sale and consumption must care- 
fully be borne in mind. That the sale of liquor in 
many parts of the State has been considerably reduced 
cannot be disputed, but that there are still very con- 
siderable quantities of liquor consumed in the State 
cannot for one moment be doubted. It is every way 
unfortunate that even approximate estimates of the 
consumption of liquors in Maine, both before the en- 
actment of prohibition and since, are altogether un- 
obtainable. No such figures, indeed, exist. The 
importance of the distinction, in any estimate of the 

1 For a comparison with England and Wales, see p. 248. 

9 



130 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

general results of prohibition is, however, clear, as the 
following statements by the late General Neal Dow — 
given in his evidence before the Canadian Commission 
in 1893 — will show : — 

" I believe I said in Montreal that there was not 
one-hundredth part as much sold in the State as before 
the law, and not one-twentieth part as much in the 
city. One would suppose that a very extravagant 
statement, but when I say that we had seven dis- 
tilleries here running in the molasses season, day and 
night, and when we had at the same time great quan- 
tities of wine and India rum imported then, and when 
you consider that we have not a drop distilled now, 
and do not have a puncheon of rum imported now, 
you will see that we had wholesale and retail liquor 
shops before the law." 

" You were selling at that time liquor for exporta- 
tion from the State?" — "It went into the country, 
but nevertheless it was sold in Portland." 

" But it was not consumed in the State ? " — " No, it 
was spread over the country. My statement was that 
there is not one-hundredth part so much liquor sold in 
Portland as before the Maine Law. I did not say 
* drarikJ " 

And again : — 

" Then, when you speak of the liquor sold now as 
compared with what was sold prior to the prohibitory 
law, you include what was sold by distilleries for ex- 
port ? " — " Yes, all that was sold, distilleries included." 

Leaving, however, these preliminary considerations, 
let us turn to the history of the experiment itself. 



STATE PROHIBITION 131 

Federal Liquor Licences. 

A remarkable fact tliat instantly arrests attention 
is the large number of persons in tbe prohibition 
States who regularly take out United States tax- 
papers, or licences, for the sale of intoxicating liquors. 
Under the United States law the Federal Govern- 
ment collects a tax from every person (irrespective of 
the State laws) who manufactures or deals by whole- 
sale or retail in intoxicating liquors.^ But the only 
persons who can legally sell liquor in a prohibition 
State are the few who are authorized under stringent 
regulations to do so for medicinal, mechanical, and the 
like special purposes {i.e., the authorized liquor agents 
whom the authorities may appoint at their discretion). 
So that the payment of the Federal tax ($25) by others 
than those so appointed is strong presumptive evidence 
of an intention to violate the prohibitory law. As a 
matter of fact, the Maine State Law does so regard it. 
In 1887 an important section was added to the pro- 
hibitory law enacting that : — 

''The payment of the United States special 
tax as a liquor seller, or notice of any kind in 
any place of resort indicating that intoxicating 
liquors are there kept, sold, or given away, shall 
be said to be prima facie evidence, that the person 
or persons paying such tax, and the party or 

^ Retail liquor (spirit) dealers {i.e., in quantities of less than 
five gallons) pay $25. 

Retailers of malt liquor, $20. 

Special tax is not to be levied on vintners selling wine of 
their own growth at manufactory, if they have only one sales' 
office ; nor on apothecaries using wine or spirits for medicinal 
purposes. 



132 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

parties displaying sucli notice, are common sellers 
of intoxicating liquors, and the premises kept by 
them common nuisances." 
The provision was re-enacted in the Amendment 
Act of 1890 (approved April 3rd, 1891). 

Nevertheless, in the face of these explicit statutory 
declarations, we find that the number of tax-payers 
in the prohibition States is very large. 

In the year ending June 30th, 1899, no fewer than 
1,359 persons in the State of Maine (representing 2*01 
per 1,000 of the population ^) paid the special tax for 
the sale or manufacture of intoxicating liquors. The 
following are the particulars : — ^ 



Rectifiers 

Brewers 

"Wholesale Liquor Dealers (Spirits) 
Do. Dealers in Malt Liquors 
Retail Liquor Dealers (Spirits) . 
Do. Dealers in Malt Liquors . 



1 

7 

13 

24 

1,125 

189 

1,359 



The total number of authorised liquor agents in the 
State is, however, only twenty^ so that more than 
1,300 persons were presumably engaged in selling 
liquor in defiance of the law. As a matter of fact, 
the actual number of liquor sellers in the State is 
probably much in excess even of this estimate, for — 
as the Internal Revenue officials freely admit — a 
large number of persons sell liquor who do not pay 

^ For comparison with England and Wales, see Appendix, 
p. 667. 

2 See Annual Report of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 
p. 71. 



STATE PROHIBITION 133 

tlie tax. This is especially true of those who run 
what are termed '' kitchen bars," i.e., cottage or tene- 
ment rooms in which liquor is sold in small quantities 
to a more or less regular circle of customers. These 
places thrive chiefly in towns where there is a large 
foreign element in the population, and do most of 
their trade on Saturdays and Sundays ; but as the 
police, even in towns where enforcement of the pro- 
hibitory law is otherwise practically non-existent, are 
almost always opposed to them, they not unnaturally 
prefer the remote risk of discovery and prosecution 
by the Federal Eevenue ofEcials ^ to the more direct 
danger of furnishing the local police with jprima facie 
evidence for a prosecution for " search and seizure." 
In the one case the penalty upon conviction is only 
a fine of $12 J {i.e., half the amount of the Federal 
tax) ; in the other a fine of $100 and costs. ^ 

The important point, however, is the evidence which 
the Internal Hevenue returns furnish of widespread 
and systematic violation of the prohibitory law. 
That this is the only right construction to put upon 
them is universally admitted. 

The Rev. Wilbur F. Berry, Secretary of the Maine 
Christian Civic League,^ in discussing the Internal 

^ For a list of prosecutions by the Internal Revenue Officials 
in recent years see Appendix, p. 699. 

^ In the case of an indictment for " maintaining a nuisance," 
the fine would be $200 and costs. 

^ The Maine Christian Civic League, founded in 1897, is "a 
movement among the churches to unite the churches and the 
moral forces of all the communities in Maine for the promotion 
of Civic Righteousness throughout the State." The following 
is the avowed purpose of the League : — 

" Its purpose shall be, by all means at our command and by 
co-operation with other existing agencies, (1) to educate the 
people in all that pertains to good citizenship ; (2) to arouse and 



134 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

Eevenne returns for 1897, wlien tlie number of liquor 
sellers in Maine was less than in 1899, said : — 

'' The Internal Revenue report for the year ending 
June 30th, 1897, gives the number who paid a U.S. 
liquor-seller's tax in Maine as 1,151. Of these 995 
were retail liquor dealers, 132 retail malt liquor-dealers, 
11 wholesale liquor dealers, and 13 wholesale malt 
liquor dealers. The retail liquor dealers included 
fifteen town and city liquor agencies, provided for by 
law to furnish liquor for scientific and medicinal pur- 
poses, and one Keeley Institute where liquor is 
furnished only to patients while under treatment. 
This list also includes druggists who pay this tax. 
By our law druggists cannot sell clear liquor for any 
purpose. They may keep and use liquor in com- 
pounding medicine and in prescriptions, but to do 
this they do not need to pay the Internal Revenue 
tax. In fact, many so-termed drug stores are but 
thinly disguised saloons. Lewiston, with a popula- 
tion of 22,000, had 33 ' drug stores,' and Water ville, 
with a population of 7,105, has 9 'drug stores.' Is it 
that these places are so very unhealthy that so many 
' dispensers of drugs ' are needed ? Certainly not ! 
. . . There are, on a conservative estimate, 1,400 
liquor-sellers in Maine ; for observation convinces me 
that 20 per cent, of those selling liquor in our State 
do not pay the Internal Revenue tax. In addition 
there are, among our foreign population, many so- 
termed ' kitchen bars ' where liquor is sold in small 
quantities. It is not possible even to estimate the 
number of these. 

maintain throngliout the State a reverence for law ; (3) to secure 
the enactment of the best possible laws, their impartial execu- 
tion, and the choice of competent officials to that end." 



STATE PROHIBITION 135 

'' These saloons are not ' open ' in the same sense 
that saloons are ' open ' in a licence State. There are 
no signs, ' Wines and Liquors,' nor are bottles of liquor 
displayed in the windows. Still the saloon can be 
easily found. Certain ' marks ' clearly point it out to 
the initiated, and the uninitiated easily learn these 
' marks.' The bar can be seen from the street in 
some places, and in some localities you need only to 
follow your nose to find a bar. It is not unusual for 
drummers ^ on the street to drum up trade for the 
saloon. In some localities liquor is put out as openly 
as are groceries. Loads of liquor and liquor empties 
are hauled through the street in broad daylight ; and 
officials, out of deference to something (?), have been 
known to request truckmen to throw a canvas over 
the liquor packages when hauled from boat or train 
by day. 

''At agricultural fairs liquor is sold in the most 
open manner. At the New England Fair at Rigby 
last fall, liquor was sold freely and openly with the 
evident knowledge of county officials, and without 
rebuke." ^ 



^ A " drummer " is strictly a travelling salesman who solicits 
trade. 

^ ZioTi's Herald, January 26tli, 1898. — Speaking at the North- 
port Camp Meeting more than a year later {i.e., August 24th, 
1899), the same speaker, after pointing out that over 1,300 
persons — or 200 more than in the preceding j^ear — paid the 
liquor tax in Maine in 1898, said : — 

" It takes to run the State of Maine two millions of dollars 
per year. There are six millions of dollars per year paid for 
liquor over the bars of the State ; $1,600,000 paid per year for 
liquor in Portland ; $1,300,000 per year pays all the city's bills, 
including its State and county tax." — Bangor Daily Commercial, 
August 25th, 1899. 



136 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

In commenting upon the foregoing statements, the 
editor of Zion^s Herald^ in whose journal the articles 
were published, wrote : — " In his second contribution 
upon the Prohibitory Law in Maine, Eev. W. F. 
Berry deals specifically with its general non-enforce- 
ment. The revelations which he makes as the result 
of personal investigation cannot be disproved. Our 
instructions to him were to the effect that he should 
give the unquestionable and unimpeachable facts in 
the case. Friends of prohibition all over this country, 
and indeed throughout the world, are making state- 
ments concerning the execution of the Maine Law that 
are simply untrue. The law is not enforced, and has 
not been for years. Nothing is gained, but much is 
lost, in this as in every other good cause, by misrepre- 
sentation. Let it be remembered, as Mr. Berry's dis- 
closures are made, that he is a staunch and unfailing 
supporter of the law. . . . These facts have been 
known to us for a long time, and we have not, there- 
fore, hesitated to repeatedly reveal the real situation. 
No one knows better the condition of things than our 
faithful ministers throughout the State. In personal 
conference with many of them, and in correspondence 
with others upon this subject, without a single excep- 
tion the allegations of Mr. Berry have been sustained." 

We are thus confronted at the outset of the inquiry 
with evidence which points not so much to occasional 
violation of law as to the virtual non-observance of 
the prohibitory law in a considerable portion of the 
State. How far such a conclusion is justified will 
appear from a detailed examination of the evidence. 
We select first the evidence of the towns. 



STATE PROHIBITION 137 

Estimated population 
(January 1st, 1899).! 

Portland . . . . . 41,500 

The city of Portland is not only the largest, but also 
the most prosperous city in Maine. Finely situated 
on a hilly peninsula jutting out into Casco Bay, it 
adds to great natural beauty the possession of one of 
the best deep-water harbours in the United States. 
Its attractions, therefore, both as a holiday resort and 
as a centre of commerce, are considerable. Few cities, 
indeed, in the Union impress the casual visitor with 
so great a sense of well-ordered prosperity and natural 
charm. Nor does a closer acquaintance with the city 
belie the early impression of its general orderliness 
and prosperity. It suffers, although to a less serious 
extent than many other American cities, from that 
'' political " method of municipal government which is 
the characteristic vice of American civic life ; but its 
citizens — of whom 80 per cent, are native born — are 
for the most part prosperous and self-respecting, and 
are said to be well disposed towards the observance 
of ordinary law. 

"We say " ordinary law " advisedly, for upon inves- 
tigation it becomes evident that in respect of the 
prohibitory law there is a marked exception. Indeed, 
the question that meets the investigator of the drink 
problem in Portland is, not the extent to which the 
prohibitory law is violated, but whether the law is 
observed at all f The fact is that prohibition in any 
but a nominal sense is non-existent in Portland. The 
law, it is true, is on the Statute Book, but in practice 

^ The city of Deering- was incorporated with Portland in 
March, 1899. and the population of Greater Portland is now 
estimated at 50,000. 



138 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

it is openly and systematically ignored. The sale of 
liquor in the city — as one of the present writers 
quickly found — is both widespread and undisguised. 
The proof of this is clear. On the day following our 
arrival in Portland (i.e., August 12th, 1899) we ac- 
companied the British Vice-Consul in a short walk 
through the central part of fche town. A careful study 
of the most recent official information on the subject 
{i.e. J 1892-3) had led us to expect a certain amount of 
evasion of the prohibitory law, more or less open and 
undisguised ; but we were entirely unprepared for 
the actual state of things which that walk disclosed. 
Many of the streets {e.g., Center, India, Fore, and 
Commercial streets) seemed literally honeycombed 
with saloons, scores of which were passed, and several 
entered by one of the present writers. Except for the 
fact that there were no liquor advertisements outside 
or in the windows, there was no attempt at disguise 
about them. They opened through swing doors 
straight upon the street, and the word " push " was, 
in many cases, printed prominently upon the doors. 
Those entered had fully equipped bars, and men were 
drinking in nearly all of them. The men did not get 
their drink and leave, but loitered as men are accus- 
tomed to do in an English public-house. On entering 
one of the saloons, a photograph of which (Plate IV.) 
is appended, the proprietor came forward and entered 
into conversation, subsequently taking the writer be- 
hind the bar (where an assistant was serving), and 
showing the fittings, etc. The bars of two of the 
principal hotels, one of them the largest hotel in the 
city, were afterwards visited. Here also there was an 
entire absence of disguise. The rooms were large and 
the bars well fitted, and evidently furnished with a 



m 

c 



^ .s 



o 

O 

Ph 




STATE PROHIBITION 139 

large variety of liquors. The sales are not restricted 
to guests ; any one from the street is at perfect liberty 
to enter and order what he chooses. In the case of 
the second hotel visited, not knowing the location of 
the bar, inquiry was made of the clerk in the office. 
" Downstairs, on the right," promptly came the 
answer. The writer descended a short flight of stairs, 
broad and light, and there, next to the handsomely 
appointed barber's shop, was a commodious and per- 
fectly fitted bar.i (See Plate Y.) 

A week later (i.e., Saturday, August 19th), a much 
fuller investigation was made. On this occasion we 
were ^' piloted " by a well-known citizen of Portland. 
In the course of a short tour, occupying less than two 
hours altogether (i.e., from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.), nearly 
forty saloons ^ were entered and examined, while a 
further number were '' looked into " and many others 
pointed out. It was evident that with little extra 
effort fully a hundred drinking places could have been 
visited. All of those visited were situated within 
the limits of a comparatively small area. Many of 
the saloons were grouped thickly together ; in some 
cases they were next door to one another, while many 
occupied corner positions in busy thoroughfares. They 
varied somewhat in size and character. In one or 
two cases the place was called a '^ cafe," but this was 
a slight and needless disguise ; inside they had bars 
like the rest of the saloons. The majority of the 
places visited were, however, simple liquor saloons, 
fitted with ordinary bars, and opening straight on to 

^ The location of the bar downstairs in some of the hotels is 
not peculiar to prohibition cities. It is an arrangement which 
is common in licence cities also. 

^ Including three hotels. 



140 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

the street. Many of the places were crowded, nearly 
all were busy, and only one was empty at the time 
of the visit. In this case the saloon-keeper explained 
that a concert was "going on outside." Several of 
the saloons had side and back rooms. In one case 
the front part of the premises was partitioned and 
curtained off into small private compartments, each 
fitted with a table and common sofa-chairs, while 
behind was a regular bar-room. This saloon was said 
to be largely used as a place of assignation for im- 
moral purposes. 

The evening on which these visits were made was 
warm, and in some cases the doors of the saloon were 
thrown wide open, and any one passing could plainly 
see what was going on inside. In some cases there 
was singing and instrumental music. On several 
occasions policemen were observed to be standing 
close to the saloons or passing by them. Once, as we 
entered, and again as we came out of a saloon where 
a '' Sing Song " was in progress, a policeman was 
observed standing just outside the saloon and only a 
few yards from the door. 

The actual situation, so far as the authorities are 
concerned, was summed up by one of the saloon- 
keepers, who, when asked how business was, replied, 
'' Very fair," and then added that so long as he " kept 
cards and dice out and kept decent hours " he was 
" all right." This cynical indifference of the autho- 
rities — the justification for which they claim to find 
in the state of public opinion on the question — re- 
ceives curious illustration at every turn. One of the 
most striking was given by the British Vice-Consul 
in the course of conversation with one of the present 
writers. He mentioned that some time previously he 



STATE PROHIBITION 141 

had had, as a part of his official duty, to search for 
two sailors who had "deserted " from their ship. On 
applying to the local police he was told that the best 
chance of finding them was by visiting the saloons, 
and a police officer was at once detailed to accompany 
the master of the steamer in his search. Indeed, so 
open is the traffic that references to saloons are 
frequent in the reports of the proceedings at the 
Portland Police Court.^ 



Number of Liquor Saloons in Portland. 

The number of liquor sellers in Portland has been 
variously estimated, often loosely and with evident 
exaggeration, but for obvious reasons it cannot be 
stated exactly. The British Vice-Consul, when 
appealed to, said he had it on excellent authority 
that there are 350 liquor sellers in the city. The 
Mayor of Portland, on being questioned, did not con- 
test this estimate, but said that the number could 
best be ascertained from the collector of internal 
revenue and from the city police. On the other 
hand, one of the two deputy marshals of police stated 
that the estimate of 350 liquor places was excessive, 
and when asked what in his judgment was a fair 



* See the Portland Courier, August 16tli, 1899, and the Port- 
land Express^ September 22nd, 1899, for two among manj^ 
illustrations of this; the former case being that of a well- 
known saloon-keeper who was " given thirty daj^s' imprison- 
ment " — we quote from the local newspaper — " to get over his 
ugly fit, during which he broke four large panes of glass in 
another man's saloon on Center Street." 



142 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



estimate, replied that of '' rum saloons proper and 
' kitclien bars ' " there were probably 250. This 
number, he added, did not include druggists (of whom 
there are more than 50 in Portland), " all of whom," 
he said, '' sell liquor." He further stated that in 
addition to these there were perhaps 100 places sell- 
ing " soft " beers {i.e., beers commonly supposed to 
be non-alcoholic), such as '' lithia " and " uno." 

Judge Gould — than whom probably few men in 
Portland are better qualified to speak ^ — gave it as 
his opinion that this estimate also was excessive. 
He himself put the number of liquor saloons (ex- 
clusive of drug stores) at 160 or 170. 

A surer indication of the true number is afforded 
by the Internal Revenue returns, which show that 
in the year ending June 30th, 1899, no fewer than 
218 persons in Portland took out Federal liquor 
licences.^ These returns, as we have already shown, 
are far from including all who sell liquor, so that it 
would seem to be a moderate estimate to say that 
the number of liquor sellers in Portland (including 
drug stores, " kitchen bars," etc.) is not less than from 
230 to 250. We are able, however, to speak more 
positively upon this point, and in the accompanying 
map (Plate VII.) to give the actual location of 176 
places in Portland at which liquor was being sold in 
the summer of 1899. The particulars are as follow : — 



* Judge Grould was imtil recently Judge of tlie Municipal 
Court at Portland, a position wliich he held for twelve years, 
and prior to that was Eecorder of the Court for a period of two 
years. 

^ This number does not include Deering, which was annexed 
to Portland in March, 1899. 



STATE PROHIBITION 



143 



Hotels with. Bars, '^ on " . 
Saloons, " on " . 
'' Kitchen Bars," etc., '' on " . 
Wholesale Drug Stores, " off " 
Eetail „ „ ''off" 

Bottling Factories, " on " and " off' 
City Liquor Agency, " off " 



13 

88 

17 

3 

50 
4 
1 



176 



The list does not pretend to be exhaustive, but it 
is conclusive so far as it goes, and has been certified 
by fully informed persons in Portland, who have had 
exceptional opportunities, ofi&cial as well as political, 
of knowing the number and location of the saloons, 
as an understatement of the actual facts. We may 
add that a complete list of the names and addresses 
of the proprietors or managers of the saloons and 
other liquor places shown on the map is in the posses- 
sion of the present writers. 

Wholesale Liquoe Teaffic. 

The map, it will be seen, shows the existence of 
two branches of the liquor traffic in Portland, viz., 
wholesale and retail. We will describe the former 
first. 

{a) Liquor Bottling Factories. 

It will probably startle many English readers to 
learn that a wholesale liquor traffic is carried on in 
the chief city of Maine, but such is the case. It is 

^ This number, altliongh not complete, gives an average of 
one liquor shop for every 240 persons of the population. For a 
comparison with English cities, see Appendix, p. 669. 



144 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

encountered first of all in the shape of four bottling 
establishments which, in addition to a busy trade in 
so-called " soft " beers, bottle large quantities of 
ordinary beers and spirits which they supply to the 
local saloon-keepers and others. Three of these 
establishments — all of which we have thoroughly 
inspected — are large and commodious buildings, admir- 
ably equipped with the most modern appliances and 
machinery. The fourth is a smaller establishment 
with a far less perfect equipment of machinery, but 
doing, nevertheless, a good and increasing trade. 
The chief part of the trade done in these factories is, 
of course, an ''off" trade, but in every case beer and 
spirits are also sold by the glass or bottle for con- 
sumption " on " the premises. As a matter of fact, 
the " bar " trade was in actual progress at each 
factory on the occasion of our visit. 

The manager of the first establishment visited, 
where between forty and fifty " hands " were em- 
ployed, informed us that they bottled eight separate 
kinds of lager beer, three kinds of ale, one of porter, 
and one of " half-and-half," besides wines, spirits, and 
"soft" beers (^.e., " lithia," " uno," ginger ale, etc.). 
In showing us over the store-room, he explained that 
stocks were rather low just then, as " they couldn't 
bottle fast enough to supply orders." 

The proprietor of the second establishment visited 
informed us that they employed forty-two men. He 
declined to state the average amount of trade done, 
but on being asked if they bottled "five hundred 
dozen of beer a day," replied, " More than that some 
days." He also said that they bottled " quite a lot" 
of spirits. This was evident from the large stocks on 
hand in the store-rooms. The other establishments 




inly those of wliicli the present Avriters have definite 



PLATE VII. 

Map showing the number and location of Liquor Silooiis, etc., 



PORTLAND, MAINE. 

(Estimated Population, January 1st, 180!i, 41,500.) 




KEY TO MAP. 



T'TTT-? T>T?Ayr-DT?T> A XT/^rr tdd/^t:)! tttv/T 



STATE PROHIBITION 145 

were visited more tlian a month later. One, owned 
by a company, was very similar in equipment and 
character to those already described, and was evidently 
doing a busy trade. The other — the smallest of the 
four — has been running for two or three years only, 
and is furnished chiefly with hand machinery. Its 
trade, however, is steadily growing. Here also there 
was a small room used as a bar-room. Altogether 
these four bottling factories furnish an extraordinary 
illustration of the futility of the prohibition law in 
Portland. 

(&) Wholesale Dnva Stores. 

But it will be seen from the map that the whole- 
sale liquor trafHc in Portland is further represented by 
three wholesale drug stores. These are well-estab- 
lished and perfectly reputable firms doing a large 
legitimate drug trade among the retail druggists of 
Maine and New Hampshire, and the trade in spiritu- 
ous liquors is but an incidental part — albeit a very 
important part — of their general business. Mr. John 
Koren, who visited Portland in 1894, says : '' So far 
as the wholesale druggists are concerned, the writer 
has it on the authority of one engaged in the busi- 
ness that a wholesale druggist who should refuse 
to fill orders for liquor from village druggists and 
physicians would be unable to retain his trade," and 
the results of our own inquiries entirely support this 
view. Each of the three firms '' carries " a large 
assortment of liquors, one of them — so we were in- 
formed by a gentleman who had been twenty-four 
years in the drug trade — keeping no less than ficelve 
different brands of whisky always in stock, and 
brandies, wines, cordials, '' cocktails," etc., in addition. 

10 



146 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

Retail Liquok Traffic. 

But it is when we turn to tlie retail trade tliat the 
full extent of the liquor trafHc in Portland is realized. 
Here the evidence is overwhelming. 

(a) Saloons. 

We select first the saloons, of which (including 
hotels) the map shows 101. This number, we repeat, 
is not exhaustive, but it covers those of which the 
present writers have actual knowledge. Foremost 
among them are the hotels, all of which, with one 
exception, have bars, accessible alike to the casual 
customer from the street and to the ho7ia-fide guest. 
They are, in fact, ordinary liquor saloons of a 
somewhat more respectable type. The one ex- 
ception is a case where the hotel is prohibited by 
a condition in the lease from maintaining a bar, 
but even here any kind of liquor — from a bottle of 
beer to a "cocktail " — is easily obtainable. A guest 
has simply to give the order, and it is fetched immedi- 
ately from a drug store next door. Wines, etc., are 
also freely served in the public dining room to guests 
who order them. These facts are matters of personal 
observation so far as the present writers are concerned. 
We should also add that the hotel bars are not even 
closed on Sunday. 

The ordinary liquor saloons conform very largely to 
one type. There are, as already explained, no liquor 
advertisements in the windows,^ but they are easily 

^ One of tlie present writers was informed thai a few years 
ago advertisements of a particular beer were for a time placed 
in the saloon windows, but these were subsequently withdrawn 
on the order of the police. 



^ 



o 



Ph 




STATE PROHIBITION 147 

distinguished, and cannot well be mistaken. It is, 
indeed, inconceivable that any one familiar with the 
central part of the city could pass them by without 
recognition. The impression so common in England 
that they are obscure, out-of-the-way and carefully- 
hidden '' dives " is absolutely without foundation. 
Some idea of their real character can be gathered from 
the photographs which we append, and which have 
been specially taken for this volume. The present 
writers have others also in their possession, but these 
will suffice. The one facing this page (Plate VIII.) 
is an exterior view of one of the most recent and 
elaborately fitted saloons in Portland. In addition to 
the entrance shown in the illustration, it has another 
in a side street. The bar is furnished with electric 
light, and has also an electric fan for ventilation, and 
cost, according to the manager's own statement, 
$2,500 (£500) to fit up. 

This saloon has had a somewhat chequered history. 
Just over it, in the same block, is the office of the 
United States Shipping Commissioner, where Ameri- 
can sailors (of whom a large number visit the city) are 
paid off. At the other end of the block, separated by 
a few yards only, are other rooms which are rented 
and used by the British Vice-Consul as a Sailors' 
Reading Room and Institute, and which he maintains 
largely at his own expense as a counter-attraction to 
the saloons ; while immediately opposite, on the other 
side of the road, is a well-known saloon, one of the 
most prosperous, probably, in Portland. 

Now it was the evident design of the promoters of 
the new saloon not only to divert ordinary business 
from the saloon opposite, but, especially, to attract the 
custom of the sailors as they came downstairs with 



148 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

their pay. The most elaborate arrangements were 
made to this end, and when the saloon was approach- 
ing completion, cards were sent out announcing that it 
would be opened on a given Saturday. One of these 
cards was handed to the British Yice-Consul, who, 
knowing how seriously the new saloon would compete 
with the work of his Sailors' Institute, had previously 
taken steps to notify the proprietor that he should 
object to a saloon underneath his rooms. He was, of 
course, precluded by his ofhcial position from active 
personal interference, but friends interested in his 
Institute came to his help, and the proprietors were 
warned that if they opened the saloon the law would 
be enforced against them. They replied that they 
knew what they were after, and should '' go right on." 
Thereupon, the public becoming incensed over the 
matter, made representations both to the County 
Attorney and to the Mayor, and the proprietors were 
officially warned not to open. They, however, 
ignored the warning, and opened the saloon on the date 
advertised, whereupon instructions were given to the 
police to raid the place, and, contrary to the usual 
practice, to station a policeman outside to see that it 
did not re-open. 

But the chief interest of the episode lies in the 
following facts. Immediately before the raid great 
pressure was brought to bear upon both the County 
Attorney^ and the British Consul to induce them to 
withdraw their opposition. The latter was offered (1) 
help in securing new premises for his Sailors' Insti- 

^ One of the present writers had it from the County Attorney's 
own lips tliat he had been much "interviewed" by persons act- 
ing in the saloon-keeper's interest, to get him to induce the 
British Consul to withdraw his opposition. 



STATE PROHIBITION 149 

tute, and (2) a donation of 1,000 dollars towards tlie 
cost of moving and extra rental if lie would consent to 
go. He was so importuned in tlie matter tliat at last 
lie said that if suitable premises could be found else- 
where, in a district free from saloons, he would move 
his institute. No such premises, however, could be 
found, and then it was suggested that if he would stay 
there and let the saloon stay there also, the proprietors 
would subscribe ten dollars a month towards his 
institute, and station a policeman outside to see that he 
teas not troubled by their customers. Meantime, other 
saloon-keepers in the neighbourhood were watching 
the course of events with considerable interest, and the 
proprietor of another saloon offered to pay the rent of 
the Sailors' Institute if the Consul would ^' hold out " 
against the new saloon. Intheendthe matter solved 
itself in the usual way. For a time the management 
sold "soft" beers only, but the zeal of the authori- 
ties quickly subsided, and when one of the present 
writers visited the saloon in September, 1899 — a few 
months after the trouble — the sale of beer and spirits 
was in full progress.^ 

The trade of these saloons is not confined to '^ on " 
sales ; many of them do a large "off" trade also. A 
leading attorney in Portland informed us that a client 
(a saloon keeper) had that morning told him that his 
business had grown so greatly that he was now com- 
pelled to employ three assistants. He added that he 
was building up " a big family trade," and that this 
branch " kept one man going." 



^ Later information (February, 1900) saj'S : — " Periodical 
seizures are made, but the proprietor ' bobs up again,' and 
business is carried on as usual," 



150 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

(&) Retail Dkug Stores. 

The retail drug stores of Portland — of whicli there 
are more than fifty, or one to every 800 of the popula- 
tion^ — represent another important branch of the 
retail liquor traffic. The trade done by these is chiefly 
an "off" {i.e., bottle) trade, but there are at least five 
or six that sell for consumption on the premises also. 
Until recently, according to the deputy marshal of 
police, there were a number of " bogus " druggists in 
the city, whose drugs were only a " blind." Strong 
action by the Pharmaceutical Society had, however, 
served to suppress almost the whole of these, " but," 
he added, "all the regular druggists sell." Similar 
testimony was given by others, and while no one dis- 
putes the fact, many, even among those who favour a 
prohibitory law, regard it as a more or less innocent 
and necessary " safety valve." It would be unfair, 
however, while stating the fact, to appear to put all 
the druggists in Portland in the same category. 
Many of the drug stores in the city are as respectable 
and do as legitimate a drug trade as any similar stores 
in this country, but while in some of these cases no 
special effort is made to push the sale of liquor, the 
present writers were unable to discover one in which 
it is not actually sold. It is also certain that many 
druggists in Portland sell on Sunday also. 

(c) "Kitchen Baes," etc. 

Of the more irregular forms which the liquor traffic 
takes in Portland, the chief is that represented by the 
sales at what are called " kitchen bars." The number 

* In Great Britain the proportion of registered chemists is one 
to every 2,350 of the population. 



STATE PROHIBITION 151 

of tliese varies, and can never be accurately deter- 
mined ; but while there are fewer now than there have 
been in the rare times when attempts have been made 
to enforce the prohibition law, it is certain that they 
are more numerous than is suggested by the accom- 
panying map. Except in the case of ''disorderly 
houses " the sales are chiefly confined to Saturday and 
Sunday. Both the sheriff and the police complain 
that it is difficult to get sufficient evidence against 
these places to sustain a prosecution, and this is doubt- 
less true. Certain it is that in all parts of the State 
there is a much greater readiness to enforce the law 
against the keepers of '' kitchen bars " than against 
the ordinary liquor seller. In Portland, however, not 
more than twenty-five " kitchen bars " had been raided 
during the first nine months of 1899. 

{d) The Liquoe Agency. 

But apart altogether from violations of the law, it 
remains to be shown that, even under the recognised 
and deliberate provisions of the law, facilities abound 
in most of the large towns and cities for obtaining 
practically unlimited supplies of liquor. 

The prohibitory law, for example, provides for the 
establishment of a State Liquor Agency, under the 
charge of a Commissioner appointed by the Governor 
in Council, for supplying pure liquor for " medicinal, 
mechanical, and manufacturing purposes " to officially 
established sub-agencies in the towns and cities of 
the State. This arrangement is generally regarded 
as necessary even by advanced prohibitionists, and 
probably some such provision is indispensable under 
any prohibitory regime^ but the actual results of the 



152 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

system are so peculiar, and tlie abuses connected with. 
it liave often been so great, tbat it may be well 
to examine tlie system in detail. 

(1) The State Commissioneb. 

The State Commissioner holds a peculiar position in 
a prohibitive community. He is appointed for a period 
of four years, and the office, which is conferred for 
purely party political services, is generally regarded as 
one of the greatest ''plums " in the State. 

He has a complete monopoly of the supply so far as 
the sub-agencies are concerned, and all liquors sold by 
the sub- agents must be ordered through him. For- 
merly the practice was for the State Commissioner to 
keep (at his own risk) a constant stock of liquors on 
hand, and to supply the sub-agencies direct from his 
own stores, and that arrangement was undoubtedly the 
intention of the law ; but the risk and losses connected 
with the system, owing to constant changes in the 
administration, led to another system being adopted 
under which the Commissioner contracts with certain 
firms outside the State (selected by himself) for the 
supply of all the liquors required. That the system is 
open to much abuse and has been a fruitful source of 
corruption there can be little doubt. 

The amount of trade done by the State Commis- 
sioner can be gathered from the tables which are 
given elsewhere,^ from which it will be seen that the 
total value of the sales in 1898 amounted to just under 
$40,000 (£8,000), as against $130,812 (£26,162) in 
1893. The amount varies with the degree of enforce- 
ment which obtains in the State. 

^ See Appendix, p. 699. 



STATE PROHIBITION 153 

(2) The City Liquoe Agencies. 

But it is with the sub-agencies in the towns and 
cities of the State that we are here chiefly concerned. 

In Portland; as elsewhere, the city agent is really a 
political agent appointed by the mayor and aldermen, 
and holding office, as a general rule, for one year only. 
His salary ($1,100) ^ is paid by the city. The agency 
is supervised by a committee of three members of the 
board of aldermen, for whom the director of the agency 
nominally acts as manager. The equipment of the 
establishment belongs to the city, and all expenditure 
connected with the office is charged against the profits 
from the sales. It is the intention of the law that the 
liquors sold should be pure and retailed at a cost 
sufficient to cover working expenses only ; and, in 
recent years, these aims would seem to have been 
successfully accomplished. Sometimes, however, large 
profits have been made, as, for example, in 1892-3, when 
more than $14,000 were paid into the city treasury as 
a result of the year's trading.^ 

The profits, however, vary with the amount of 
business done, and this again is determined by the 
amount of competition which the liquor agency meets 
with outside. Of late years, owing to the open sale 
of liquor in saloons, drug stores, etc., the sales at 
the agency have steadily declined, until in 1898-9 



municipal 



^ He also receives $700 a year for an 


assistant. 


^ These profits were appropriated for the following- m 


purposes : — 




Police Telephone System 


4,360-00 


Deer Paddocks in the Oaks 


505-31 


Quarantine Station 


5,761-06 


Evening Schools 


659-93 


West School 


3,000-00 



$14,286-30 



154 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

— as will be seen from the table given in the 
Appendix ^ — they amounted to no more than $11,352, 
as against $58,742 in 1891-2, and $84,848 in 1892-3, 
when a temporary but strong effort was made by the 
sheriff to suppress the saloons. The close connection 
between outside competition and reduced sales in the 
city liquor agency was repeatedly emphasised in the 
course of the present investigation. The city liquor 
agent, on being asked why the sales at the agency 
had so greatly declined since 1892, replied: — "You 
haven't far to go for the explanation ; you've got it all 
around you. They don't come here when the other 
places are running as freely as they are now." He 
further complained that the commission levied by the 
State on all liquors purchased from the State Commis- 
sioner {i.e. J 10 per cent, on the market value) seriously 
handicapped him in his competition with the drug 
stores and the saloons. In this he but echoed a com- 
plaint that is made by all the city agents in Maine. 
Sales are only supposed to be made for medicinal, 
mechanical, or manufacturing purposes, but, as a 
matter of fact, no questions are asked, nor is any 
certificate required. In one or two cases, on the occa- 
sion of our first visit, the name and address of the 
customer were taken, but this was evidently unusual, 
and provoked considerable surprise. A large pro- 
portion of the customers were women. Sales are freely 
made to minors if they bring a written order from 
a parent or guardian. The nominal hours of sale are 
from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., but in 
reality they are what the agent " likes to make them.' 
A large and varied stock of liquors is kept, but cheap 
whisky (ranging from three dollars a gallon upwards) 
^ See p. 700. 



STATE PROHIBITION 155 

is tlie liquor most in demand. Any quantity, from a 
gill to five gallons, can be purcliased. 

(e) Importations. 

As lias already been pointed out, under tbe Federal 
law no Prohibition State can prevent an inter-State 
railway or express company from carrying to any 
point witbin its borders liquor brought from another 
State. Shipments of liquor from Boston to Portland, 
for instance, are held to be valid shipments by the 
Courts. Once delivered, the liquor can be surrepti- 
tiously sold or given away, and have more or less 
potent effect in neutralising the prohibitory law. In 
the case of packages intended for legitimate private 
consumption no disguise is needed, nor can such pack- 
ages, even when seized by the police, be confiscated. 
As a matter of fact, such seizures are exceedingly rare, 
and at the present time liquor is imported freely. 
Such importations must be carefully kept in mind in 
any attempt to estimate the amount of liquor consumed 
in Portland, for, apart altogether from the liquors im- 
ported for sale, a considerable quantity is obtained 
from Boston for private consumption. Many citizens, 
indeed, obtain all their liquor in this way, alleging as 
their reason the poor quality of the liquors sold in 
Portland. 

Quantity of Liquor Consumed in Portland. 

It is evident, therefore, upon a review of all the 
sources of supply, that the total quantity of liquor sold 
and consumed in Portland is very great, and far in ex- 
cess of what is popularly supposed. It may, indeed, 
be doubted if it is not actually greater at the present 



156 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

time tharL it would be under a properly regulated 
system of licence. Complete statistics are, of course, 
unobtainable, but tbe following figures, wbicL. show 
tbe actual quantities of ale delivered in Portland by 
one brewery only from May to August, 1899, will belp 
to sbow that this conclusion is not so startling as it 
may at first sight seem. The figures were supplied to 
the present writers by the brewer's agent in Portland 
— a man who is personally responsible for the delivery 
of every barrel coming into the city from that par- 
ticular brewery, and are taken from his private records. 
The total quantities only are given here, but the par- 
ticulars for each day separately are in our posses- 
sion. The figures are as follow : — 

1899. Barrels. Half-barrels. 

May . . 828 . . 26 

June . . 883 . . 41 

July . . 963 . . 36 

August . . 964 (including half-barrels) 

The foregoing quantities, it must be repeated, repre- 
sent the deliveries of one brewery only^ and do not take 
into account the deliveries of other breweries, some 
idea of the magnitude of which can easily be formed 
by any one who takes the trouble to watch the Boston 
steamers unloading at the Franklin Wharf. The 
present writers have it on the same authority (and no 
one, probably, has greater or more explicit knowledge 
than our informant) that the total quantity of ale and 
beer coming into Portland, from all sources, may safely 
be put at 2,500 barrels per month {i.e., 1,500 barrels of 
ale and 1,000 barrels of heer). This would give an 
annual per capita consumption — reckoning the present 
population of Portland (including Deering) at 50,000 — 



STATE PROHIBITION I57 

of 18-6 (American)i gallons, or 3'3 gallons more than 
the average per capita consumption of malt liquors 
for the whole of the United States. The imports from 
one brewery only represent an annual per capita con- 
sumption of 6*7 gallons.^ 

If we could add to these figures the consumption 
of spirits — the consumption of which, owing to their 
greater portability, is always stimulated by prohibitory 
legislation — it would be seen how great the consump- 
tion of intoxicating liquors in Portland really is.^ 

Prevalence of Drunkenness. 

A consideration of these facts will help to make clear 
what has always been a source of perplexity to many 
temperance workers in this country, namely, the appar- 
ently wide-spread prevalence of drunkenness in the cities 
of Maine. That there is very considerable drunkenness 
in Maine is beyond dispute. So far from being chal- 
lenged, the fact is publicly acknowledged and deplored 
by the staunchest friends of the prohibitory law, and 
is put beyond the region of controversy by the official 
returns.^ The late General Neal Dow, writing to the 

^ An American gallon is 'SSS of an Englisli gallon, while an 
American barrel contains, according to the U.S. Inland Eevenue 
Department, 31 gallons. An English barrel contains 36 gallons. 

* Some deduction from this estimate must of course be made 
for the beer purchased in Portland but consumed outside, z.e., in 
the neighbouring districts. 

^ It must be remembered that spirits have always been the 
national drink in America, and while of late years the consump- 
tion of beer has been steadily growing, having risen from 9*59 
in 1880-4 to 15*21 gallons in 1893-7 (during which period the 
consumption of spirits has only slightly declined, e'.e., from l"-40 
gallons to 1*19 gallons), whisky continues to be the popular 
beverage. 

* See Appendix, p. 701. 



158 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

Portland Argus on February 4tli, 1896, said : — '' There 
is a good deal of feeling about town as to the present 
state of affairs, and a conviction that the present city 
government seems to ignore the matter altogether, 
under the pretence that the suppression of these places 
[i.e., saloons] is impossible. The ministers have taken 
the subject up with the hope of delivering the city 
from the evil which now oppresses it. It has been 
found by actual observation that many boys and young 
men are in the way of going to the bad by the many 
temptations to drink that are permitted openly and 
freely to lead them astray. A few weeks ago the 
police arrested eighty persons, sixty of them for 
drunkenness. That is a larger number by far than 
was ever before arrested in Portland for that offence. 
It would be interesting, perhaps startling even, to 
compare that harvest with those of Boston, New York, 
or Chicago, as to the proportion of drunkenness to 
population." 

To compare, as General Neal Dow here suggests, a 
special outbreak of drunkenness in Portland with the 
normal figures for Boston, New York and Chicago, 
would obviously be unfair, but a comparison of the 
arrests for drunkenness in the cities named in 1898 — 
the latest year for which statistics are available — is 
certainly striking. The figures are as under : — 



Portland 


Population, 
Jan. 1st, 1899. 

41,500 


Arrests for 

Drunkenness. 

1898. 

1,740 


Katio per 
1,000. 

42 


New York 


. 3,500,000 


46,170 


13 


Chicago . 


. 1,850,000 


42,212^ 


23 


Boston . 


. 582,463 


26,177 


452 




^ Including disturb 
2 See foot-not( 


ing the peace. 
3, p. 318. 





STATE PROHIBITION i59 

The E-ev. Wilbur F. Berry, Secretary of the 
Maine Christian Civic League, writing in January, 
1898, said : — " Drunkenness is increasing in the State. 
The imprisonments for drunkenness in Cumberland 
County in 1892 were 212 ; the number steadily in- 
creased to 988 in 1896. The Portland Press, of Septem- 
ber 16th, 1897, published a list of twenty-one drunks 
who were before the municipal court the day before, 
and the average number of arrests for drunkenness per 
week is about forty. But the number arrested for 
drunkenness in no way indicates the number of per- 
sons drunk on the streets, for though the law requires 
the arrest of all persons seen intoxicated on the streets, 
only disorderly, quarrelsome, drunken persons are 
arrested as a rule ; and not all arrested are brought 
into court, as not a few are allowed to go free from the 
lock-up when sobered. In brief, this is the condition 
of the liquor traffic in Maine." ^ 

The statistical method of argument in relation to 
drunkenness is not one to which the present writers 
attach great importance, inasmuch as the statistics to 
which appeal must be made are necessarily governed 
by circumstances which are neither uniform nor 
always apparent ; but at the same time, looking at the 
^gures in the most general way, it is clear that they 
challenge the value of the prohibitory law as a re- 
straint upon drunkenness. 



* Zion's Herald, January 26th, 1898. The following state- 
ment, which appeared in the Portland Argus on August 18th, 
1899, is also noteworthy : — " Nobody seems to exactly know 
what to do with the men who will insist on getting fairly 
drunk, and then just as firmly insist on keeping on Commercial 
Street. Their room evenings would be a good deal better than 
their company." 



i6o THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

Moreover, as the Secretary of the Maine Christian 
Civic League is careful to point out, the figures are 
not explained by a greater stringency in the enforce- 
ment of the police law in Portland. Under the Maine 
Law (as elsewhere in America) simple drunkenness is 
made a criminal offence, but in point of practice no 
man is arrested if he is not actually creating a " dis- 
turbance." The effort of the police — as the City Mar- 
shal informed one of the present writers — is restricted 
to " keeping the streets clear." So long as a man is 
able to go home quietly, he is not interfered with.^ 
This would seem to be an arrangement of long stand- 
ing. The late General Neal Dow, in the course of his 
examination before the Royal Canadian Commission 
on June 27th, 1893, said : — " "When I was Mayor [in 
1851] every man who indicated he was drunk was 
arrested, but now they do not do that unless the man 
is noisy and disturbing the peace." 

Another witness — a '' Past Most Worthy Patriarch 
of the Sons of Temperance " — on being informed that 
evidence had been given that drunken persons who 
were not disorderly were not arrested, and that in the 
preceding year " men shook their fists in the face of 
the police in Portland, and dared them to arrest them," 
said : " I have no doubt of it." 

'' And that would naturally reduce the number of 
arrests very largely in the city of Portland ? " — 
'' Yes." 



^ On the first occasion on which one of tlie present writers 
visited the Portland Police Station (^e., August 14tli, 1899), a 
drunken man came in and informed the officers that he had been 
drinking — a fact that was tolerably evident from his condition. 
The Deputy Marshal told him to go home and "keep in the 
house," and the man reeled oiit smiling. 



STATE PROHIBITION i6i 

The ex-City Marshal of Portland, when questioned 
on the point, said: ''It has always been the practice 
of the officers, if they found a man intoxicated, and if 
he was unable to go home, to take him to the station. 
If he was able to go home, they would rather see him 
go home." ^ 

That the practice is not confined to Portland was 
made evident by investigations in other cities. In no 
town visited was any other arrangement in force. 

Administration of the Law. 

The real explanation of the widespread prevalence 
of drunkenness in Portland lies, however, altogether 
apart from questions of police practice. It is to be 
found in the fact that prohibition exists in Portland 
only in name, and that the system actually in force 
there is a system of irregular licence in which the 
evils of the traffic are intensified, and from which the 
ordinary safeguards have been removed. 

That the traffic is in effect licensed, or (to quote the 
official term) '' regulated," is freely acknowledged by 
the city and county officials, who justify their action 
on the ground that public sentiment demands it. 
Thus, the mayor of Portland, when asked by one of 
the present writers what was the meaning of one or 
two' raids that had recently been made, replied that 
he thought " things were getting too open," and so 
he had instructed the city marshal to raid one or two 
of the worst places, and now he " was going to watch 
the result." The city marshal was even more explicit. 
They closed up the places, he said, that were dis- 

^ See Evidence of the Royal Canadian Commission (1893, vol. 
v.). 

11 



1 62 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

orderly, but where a saloon-keeper " used discretion " 
(i.e., kept his customers from making a disturbance), 
and " did not allow them to loaf about the doors of the 
saloon," they ^'did not interfere with him." They 
had, however, '' cleaned out" some disorderly places 
that summer. The sheriff, in confirming this, said 
that he himself had "warned the keepers of hotels 
and saloons not to open on Sunday." They were, 
however, he added, " tolerably good in that respect," 
"What actually happens is that the saloon-keepers 
are periodically '' visited " by the sheriff's deputies, 
or by the police — generally the former — and enough 
liquor is seized to support a prosecution. A fine, 
varying in amount from $100 for simple " search and 
seizure " to $200 upon an indictment for maintaining 
a "nuisance," is then imposed, and the liquor-seller 
is free to continue his trade for another term. The 
proceedings are purely formal, and can only by 
courtesy be spoken of as a " trial." The hollo wness 
of the system, as it obtains in some counties, was well 
exposed in an incident described in the New Voice — 
the official organ of the National Prohibition party in 
America— on December 7th, 1899. "At a session of 
the Supreme Court in Aroostook County," so it was 
stated, " a rum-seller came in and proffered his fine of 
$100, and costs of $10, to the clerk of the court. ' I 
haven't any indictment against you,' said the clerk. 
' Well, there ought to be one, and I want to pay my 
fine ! ' ' But I can't take your money,' said the clerk. 
' You must,' said the rum-seller ; ' I want the protec- 
tion.' And the clerk hunted over the docket until he 
found an indictment several years old, took the fine, 
and let the man go, and keep on selling — all because 
that is the Republican party policy." 



STATE PROHIBITION 163 

A liquor-seller convicted on a '' search, and seizure " 
warrant can, if he so choose, postpone payment of his 
fine by appealing from the municipal court to what 
is called the Superior Court, the sessions of which are 
held three times a year. If he still wisli to postpone 
payment, he can further appeal (on what is called a 
"demurrer") from the Superior Court to the "Law 
Court," which, sits in July only. In this way he can 
sometimes secure a year's delay, continuing his sales all 
the while. 

The accompanying illustration (Plate XII.), which 
has been reproduced from the Portland Advertiser of 
October 18th, 1899, gives a complete list of the liquor 
cases which came before the Superior Court at Port- 
land in September, 1899. The total number of indict- 
ments, it will be seen, was 234, and the total number 
of liquor-sellers indicted was 159. The amount of 
j&nes collected was $20,062 (£4,012), making a total 
for the year of $23,962 (£4,792). This sum, however, 
does not represent the whole of the revenue (i.e., fines) 
derived from the sale of liquor in Portland. A further 
sum of about $5,000 ^ must be added for the liquor 
fines paid upon conviction in the municipal court, 
making a total revenue from liquor fines of $29,000 
(£5,800). These moneys are subsequently paid over 
to the county treasurer, and are used to defray the 
ordinary county expenses.^ The law requires that 

1 The amount actually received in the first seven months 
(January to July) of 1899 was $3,500. 

2 These include cost of judicial administration, jail expenses, 
etc. The deliberateness of the system, as it exists in other 
counties, is illustrated by the following statement which 
appeared in the New Voice — the official organ of the National 
Prohibition party in America — on February 1st, 1900 : — 

" One Republican county attorney recently addressed a Grand 



i64 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

the penalty for conviction upon an indictment for 
^' maintaining a nuisance " shall be a '^ fine not ex- 
ceeding $1,000." The usual practice is, however, to 
inflict a fine of $200 and costs for a first offence, and 
to add a further fine of $100 for every additional 
offence, so that a saloon-keeper who had, say, three 
indictments against him in one term, would be liable 
to a penalty of $400 and costs.^ The effect of this 
cumulative system of fining, if it were strictly carried 
out, would be to make liquor selling in Maine a much 
more expensive business than it is at the present time. 
But in practice the intention of the law is systemati- 
cally evaded by making the bar-tender (who can 
easily be dismissed), and not the proprietor, the legal 
defendant. Whenever, therefore, a bar-tender becomes 
'' too expensive " {i.e., has too many indictments 
charged against him), he is removed from his post, 
and another man is put in his place. In this way 
the fines are kept within " reasonable limits." 

This method of " search and seizure," with its sub- 
sequent '' fine," is not, however, uniformly enforced, 
and in Portland, at least, it offers many loopholes for 
unequal administration. The fact that a liquor-seller 
is under the '' protection " of the sheriff, or of the 
police, will often save him from the " inconvenience " 
of a prosecution, while another man who does not 
enjoy such "protection" may be indicted twice or 



Jury in these words : ' Now I want you to indict these rum- 
sellers. We can get $5,000 in fines from them towards paying 
the county debt. They have as good a right to help pay the 
taxes as any other business, and it will make other people's 
taxes less.' " 

1 This rule is subject to exceptions, and is not adhered to 
strictly. 



3 ti = a i f-i 

i I ; ? s s 
g = 5 _ 



5 ^ ^ Z t^a 
5-1 l52,;S'5 






■5S !^.^ 



f „^ CO OT« w , 

°^ aS a 3^ = 22 = 
u oo» m mo m 



Gd 



Particakrs of 234 indictments against 159 li^nor-sellera at the Septe.uber term of the 
Superior Court, Portland (Maine), 1899, reproduced from the Portland W.-,,-;/.-,,. 
of October 18th, 1899. 



J)T£KT1SER \r£DXESDAt HTEyiNG, OCTOBER 



ATION 



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vietd 



f 



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Policies i 



iial Cifcl 

maiitc. I 

ND 
CARDS 

tationery. 
Mctures, 

& Harmon, 



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lsiS;'i^!Cr45:^'"" 



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T|: Money. 

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EVERY... I 

. . . MAN I 
TO HIS TRADE I 






THE THURSTON PRINT, 



STATE PROHIBITION 165 

thrice in a year. But whatever the cause may be, the 
fact is certain that not all the liquor-sellers in Port- 
land receive visits from the sheriff's deputies or from 
the police. 

Nor is the number of " prosecutions " any indication 
of the number of seizures actually made by the sheriff's 
deputies and by the police. On the contrary, a large 
number of seizures are made without any intent to 
prosecute, but simply for the sake of the fees which 
they bring. The enforcement of the law is by the 
Act entrusted to sheriffs ^ who are popularly elected, 
apparently on purely party political grounds, and who 
retain office for two years. They appoint their own 
deputies, and both sheriffs and deputies are paid $2 
per day when on duty, together with travelling allow- 
ances and fees for service of warrants, etc. In some 
cases warrants are also served by civil constables and 
by the city police, but in the cities and towns the 
work is almost invariably performed by the sheriff's 
deputies, who are known as " liquor deputies." In 
Portland, and, speaking generally, elsewhere also, 
the mode of procedure is for the sheriff or his deputy 
to apply to the judge of the municipal court for a 
search-warrant, armed with which he proceeds to 
make search and seizure. 

Formerly, service fees were paid even when no 
liquor was seized, and this led to considerable abuse, 



^ The Statutes of tlie State also make it the duty of the maj^or 
and aldermen of cities to make complaint and prosecute all 
violations of the law. Section 57 of the Statute says : — 

"The mayor and aldermen, selectmen, assessors and constables? 
in every city, town and plantation, shall make complaint and 
prosecute all violations of this Chapter, and promptly enforce 
the laws against drinking houses." 



i66 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

large numbers of ''dummy" warrants being sworn 
out simply for the sake of the fees,^ and, in not a few 
cases, for the opportunities which they offered of levy- 
ing blackmail upon the liquor-sellers. The abuse 
grew to such proportions that a year or two ago the 
rule was altered, and now no fees are allowed for the 
service of warrants except where there has been an 
actual seizure of liquor. It is not necessary, how- 
ever, that a large quantity of liquor should be seized — 
a single half-pint sufEces to establish a successful 
" search and seizure, " and consequently many small 
seizures are made, upon which fees are collected, but 
where no prosecution follows. 

*An extraordinary case of this kind occurred during one of 
our visits to Portland (September 22nd, 1899), when a man who 
had applied to the city council several months previously for 
election as a civil constable, but who, as it subsequently tran- 
spired, had never been elected, " raided " three of the Portland 
saloons, and made small seizures for the sake of the fees. This 
man was himself a saloon-keeper^ who, less than a fortnight 
previously, had been indicted in the Supreme Court for main- 
taining a " liquor nuisance," and had been fined $200 and costs ! 
One of the present writers had visited his saloon five weeks 
previously, and had listened to his complaint that the sheriff's 
deputies had that morning seized $15 worth of liquor from his 
saloon. His motive in making the raids was expressed with 
cynical frankness to a representative of the local press : — 

" I want to say that I am actuated by no malice towards 
anyone in this matter. I am simply doing this as a matter of 
business. I get something like $2*12 on every warrant I serve, 
and I think it is a pretty good way to make a living. " — {Port- 
land Daily Press, September 23rd, 1899.) 

His career as a " reformer " was, however, brought to a sudden 
close by the refusal of the judge to issue the necessary warrants, 
and by the subsequent discovery that, although nominated, he 
had not been elected a civil constable. The incident well illus- 
trates the hollowness of the whole system of what is called 
" eiiforcement " of prohibition in Portland. 



STATE PROHIBITION 



167 



Year. 


Total No. of 
Seizures. 


1896 
1897 
1898 


. 3,830 
. 4,127 
. 4,286 



The following figures show the number of seizures 
(representing separate warrants) made in Cumberland 
County in the years 1896-1898, together with the 
number of prosecutions in the Municipal and Superior 
Courts. Nearly the whole of the seizures were made 
in Portland : — 

Total No. of Total No. of 

Prosecutions in Indictments 
the Municipal in the 

Court, Portland. ^ Superior Court. 

99 . 67 

101 . 68 

58^ . 59 

Many of the seizures were, of course, made at the 
same premises, but each represents a separate warrant, 
and would have furnished evidence for a separate 
prosecution.^ 

A flagrant illustration of the system is supplied by 

^ Ordinary " search and seizure " prosecutions are conducted 
in the Municipal Coiirt, whereas indictments for maintaining a 
" nuisance " can only be prosecuted in the Superior Court. The 
technical difference in the two offences is that in one case 
(" search and seizure ") it is the keeping of liquor with an 
intent to sell that constitutes the offence ; in the other it is 
maintaining a place for the sale or keeping for sale of intoxi- 
cating liquor that constitutes the '' nuisance. " 

^ Of these, 32 were " police " cases, and only 26 were prosecu- 
tions by the sheriff's department. 

^ It may, perhaps, be urged by the officials concerned that it 
is not always possible to "connect" the owner or occupier of 
the premises with the liquor seized ; but this can hardly justify 
the numerous cases where liquors seized from well-known 
saloons are returned in the libels as seized from " persons un- 
known." It is true, of course, that at no time could it be 
expected that every seizure should be followed by a prosecution, 
as there are necessarily errors in complaints, warrants, descrip- 
tions, names, etc. ; but a wide margin between the number of 
seizures and prosecutions is certainly open to criticism. 



i68 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

the seizures made in Portland in December, 1898 — 
the last month of the former sheriff's administration. 
In that one month no less than 344 seizures were 
made from 32 saloons, an average of 11 seizures for each 
saloon. And yet in no single case — as an examination 
of the Municipal Court records showed — was the defen- 
dant prosecuted for ^' search and seizure," and only in 
three cases was there an indictment in the January 
term of the Superior Court for maintaining a 
" nuisance." ^ The true character of the seizures is 
shown in the particulars given in the Appendix.^ 

Under the regime of the present sheriff, whose term 
of office began in January, 1899, a somewhat better 
condition of things has in this respect been brought 
about. He has laid down the rule — we quote his own 
statement — that his deputies shall not, except under 
special circumstances, swear out more than seven 
warrants per day. This rule considerably reduces the 
fees of the special liquor deputies, but it also to a large 
extent lessens the public scandal. That the present 
system is, however, very imperfect, the records of the 
Courts sufficiently show.^ 

But the Court records show more than this. They 



* In a number of cases the name shown on the libel was that 
of the bar-tender, and not the actual proprietor. In two or 
three cases the nominal defendant had left the employ of the 
saloon-keeper prior to the month when the seizures were made. 
Prosecution in these cases (if attempted) would have been use- 
less. 

«p. 706. 

^ The total number of " seizures " for the first six months of 
1899 was 705. The number of " search and seizure " prosecu- 
tions during the same period was 106, while the number of 
indictments in the Superior Court (including 27 belonging to 
the former year) was 80. 



STATE PROHIBITION 169 

bring out with striking clearness tlie fact that the men 
who are selling liquor in Portland to-day have in 
many cases been selling it through a series of years. 
The same names occur in the records year after year, 
and the fact is suggestive of the organized character 
of the traffic. For the present condition of things, at 
any rate, there can be no excuse in lack of knowledge, 
for the judge who signed the '' search and seizure " 
warrants in 1898 is now (1899) mayor of the city, 
while one of the two liquor deputies who served them 
is deputy marshal of police ! ^ 

Peesent Condition of Things not Exceptional. 

Further, it is clear that the present condition of 
things in Portland is not exceptional. The traffic 
may be a little more open and undisguised at the 
present time than in some former years — notably in 
the years 1891-3 — but the city and county records 
show conclusively that the prohibitory law has been 
persistently violated through a long period of years, 
and that this violation has been most marked since 
1884, when the Prohibitory Amendment to the State 
Constitution was carried. Occasionally, it is true, 
resolute efforts have been made to secure an honest 
enforcement of the law, but these have always ended 
in speedy reaction and failure. As one of the 
witnesses examined before the Eoyal Canadian Com- 
mission in 1893, who described himself as '^ a strong 

^ It may be added that, prior to his service as judge, the maj'or 
was for two years assistant prosecuting attorney and for four 
years prosecuting attorney for the county, ending his term of 
service in 1893 ; while the deputj^ marshal referred to had served 
as a policeman in Portland for eleven years prior to his appoint- 
ment as liquor deputy ! 



170 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

prohibitionist," put it: "Once in a while the tem- 
perance people become active in regard to the matter, 
and they enforce the law ; but it requires so much 
eifort that they soon get tired of it, and the thing 
goes back to the old channel, and we witness the same 
evil effects of rum-selling as we do to-day." 

Mr. John Koren, the Special Commissioner of the 
American Committee of Fifty, in describing the con- 
dition of things prior to 1891, says : — " With the 
prohibitory attempts previous to 1858 we need not 
concern ourselves, since there was a licence interreg- 
num for two years (1856-58) after the passage of the 
first Maine Law. In 1860 it is estimated that liquor 
was sold at 266 places. This would seem to be much 
exaggerated but for the records kept by wholesale 
liquor-dealers from that period. The great national 
questions of the time naturally overshadowed local 
issues. It is a matter of record that men grew 
wealthy in the liquor trade during the Civil War. 
In these years and until 1868 the enforcement of the 
law lay entirely in the hands of the local authorities. 
The police were not slow to discover that the presence 
of liquor-sellers might be turned to their own advan- 
tage in a two-fold manner — first, by exacting from 
them fees for protection ; and, secondly, by holding 
them to certain political promises. That blackmail 
was regularly levied by the police as early as in the 
sixties is unquestionably true. The advocates of the 
Maine Law had already become convinced in 1867, 
principally, we believe, on account of conditions in 
Portland, that the local authorities could not be 
trusted to execute it rigidly, since in that year the 
Act creating State constables was passed. The work 
of these officials in Portland was a conspicuous failure. 



STATE PROHIBITION 171 

According to the statements of persons wlio liad direct 
dealings with them, their practices were no better 
than those of the police. The ' Sheriff Law ' of 
1872 — passed, it is said, under the promise that it 
should not become effective — made it the duty of the 
county sheriff and his deputies to annihilate the liquor 
traffic, and, so far as Portland is concerned, the pro- 
hibitionists have ever since placed their main depen- 
dence upon these officials. 

" Under the regime of the first sheriff the law was 
honestly and impartially enforced, so far as it lay in 
his power to enforce it, but the support given him by 
other officials was not such as to check the sale of 
liquor permanently. As a matter of fact, for more 
than a decade after the passage of the sheriff law 
^ respectable saloons where gentlemen could go ' 
flourished in the city. Until the adoption of the con- 
stitutional amendment in 1884, the officials generally 
contented themselves with compelling the saloon- 
keepers to close their shops at ten o'clock at night and 
on Sundays. An attempt in 1885 at enforcement was 
only partially successful, as may be judged from the 
fact that in the year following at least 158 liquor shops 
were known to exist in the city. Open violation of 
the law was the rule until the election of the sheriff in 
1891." 1 

If further evidence on this point were required, it 
could be found in the facts obtained by the present 
writers in the course of a careful examination of the 
city records for the last fifty years, but which for 
want of space we forbear to quote. 

In 1891 and 1892, however, a determined effort was 
made to suppress the saloons in Portland, and the 

^ The Liquor Problem in its Legislative Aspects, pp. 34-6. 



172 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

vigorous measures adopted by the sheriff did unques- 
tionably result in driving some of the dealers out of 
the business. But the traffic — as the evidence taken 
by the Royal Canadian Commission in 1893 abun- 
dantly shows — so far from being extinguished, was 
only driven into other and more mischievous forms. ^ 

Further, the severity of the regime was so resented 
by a large portion of the population that the sheriff, 
who had been elected in 1890 by a majority of 2,335 
votes, only secured re-election in 1892 by a majority of 
66 votes.^ And this in a county that is invincibly 
Republican ! His re-election, indeed, was only carried 
by the rural vote. Portland, which had given him a 
majority of 1,317 in 1890, recorded an adverse majority 
in 1892 of 359 votes. That election may be said to 
have decided the fate of prohibition in Portland. 
Shortly afterwards — we quote from the New Voice, the 
official organ of the National Prohibition party in 
America, — " a meeting of Republican politicians was 
held in Portland behind closed doors. What was done 
at that meeting, or just what influence was brought to 
bear, has never come to light, but the result was that 
the vigorous enforcement of the law came to a sudden 
stop. The old offenders returned and resumed selling, 
and were not molested ; and an era of lawlessness 
began in Portland that has steadily increased till the 
present.'^ ^ 

Certain it is that from that time forward no 



^ See Evidence of the Royal Canadian Commission, vol. v. 
A large body of independent evidence is also in the possession 
of the present writers. 

2 Portland Daily Press, September 14th, 1892. 

^ New Voice, December 7th, 1899. 



STATE PROHIBITION 173 

serious attempt has been made to enforce the pro- 
hibitory law in Portland. The proof of this is found 
in an unbroken chain of evidence. 

In September, 1895, we find the Eev. A. H. Wright, 
pastor of the St. Lawrence Congregational Church, 
Portland, calling public attention to the matter in 
a sermon preached before his church. "We quote a few 
sentences from the report of his sermon published in 
the Portland Express : — " The condition of things here," 
he says, " is simply amazing to all honest, unpreju- 
diced and right-minded citizens. Liquor-selling is a 
crime in this State in the eye of civil law. Liquor- 
sellers are criminals ; yet here, in our Christian city, 
governed by Christian men, we are told that not 
less than 300 places are open, and in full operation for 
the sale of intoxicants. The sheriffs appointed by the 
State to protect this city against this criminal and 
corrupting traffic know this. The officers of our 
municipality, from the chief magistrate down to the 
members of the police force, know this. The Christian 
citizens of the city know this. Our professional men, 
who have, or are supposed to have, an interest in the 
moral welfare of the city, know this. Our prominent 
and influential merchants have daily evidence that 
this criminal traffic is going on ; they see it in bold 
operation under their eyes, and they know the law of 
the State is, in hundreds of places, being violated with 
seeming impunity. Notwithstanding this general 
knowledge, there is no uprising of the people, no com- 
bination of good law-loving citizens against this 
wholesale violation of law. We have law on the 
side of righteousness, temperance and moral welfare 
— ^law against criminals who are bold and defiant in 
their iniquity; we have able, intelligent municipal 



174 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

officers, men of high character, men who in all other 
important matters are proving their wisdom, public 
spirit and energy, but are showing themselves incap- 
able and powerless to preserve the peace and honour of 
the city before the demands of this arrogant, flourish- 
ing and victorious liquor traffic." ^ 

A fortnight later (September 29th, 1895) we find 
another Portland minister, the Eev. Rollin T. Hack, 
pastor of the Second Parish Congregational Church, 
calling attention to the matter in a public sermon. 
" What," he asks, " is the situation here in our city ? 
It is one that shames you and me and every decent 
man and woman to whom home is sacred, and reputa- 
tion, honour, and life are dear things. There are to- 
day probably more ' kitchens,' shops, and stores selling 
liquor than ever before. There are 121 persons or 
firms that have paid the U.S. special tax for 1895. 
There are 37 persons who paid last year who have not 
this year ; how many will do so cannot be told, but 
probably the most of them. That would make about 
150. Does that represent the number of places selling 
liquor ? By no means. A conservative estimate has 
put the number at 200. But I am coming to the con- 
viction (appalling though it be) that that number is 
only about half large enough. One man, who has a 
very extensive acquaintance with places where liquor 
is sold, said there were from 300 to 400. Another 
gentleman, who knows the life of these streets as I 
cannot, says there are 400 places. And I am forced to 
put the number at about 400. I have reached this 
conclusion because of testimony and the following 
facts : In the list of those who have paid the special 
tax I find five on India Street. Those of you who 
* Portland Express, September 16th, 1895. 



STATE PROHIBITION 175 

know India Street can tell what proportion tliat num- 
ber is of those really selling. And so with many of 
the other streets in the city. Center Street, for ex- 
ample, is credited with five persons who have paid the 
tax, and yet there were counted between twenty and 
thirty places on Center Street that to-day are selling 
beer and ^ hard stuff.' If the number of persons pay- 
ing the United States tax on Center Street is only 
one-fifth or one-sixth of those selling liquor, how 
many have we in the city ? ... It is clearly 
evident that more young men and boys are drinking 
than in the past. The ranks of the lawless and miser- 
able and criminal are being fast recruited. A reporter 
of one of our papers was walking down South Street 
one day last week, when he saw three boys and a girl 
near the old hose tower. They were taking frequent 
swigs from a can such as housewives usually send to 
the corner grocery for kerosine. An investigation 
revealed the fact that the growler ^ is frequently 
rushed from the saloons in that vicinity. Men, 
women, and children go into the saloons with all sorts 
of receptacles that will hold liquids. Pitchers seem 
to be the most popular method of conveyance, with 
dinner pails a good second. Milk cans are frequently 
used at parties, and tea caddies are not infrequently 
used. The bearers of these vessels are invariably 
children who are not adverse to taking sups from the 
cans in transit. No questions are asked of these little 
ones as long as they have the price, and not long ago 
the reporter was informed of a certain saloon in this 
town where a man was being kicked out of the place 
because he had ordered a drink that he could not pay 

^ A pitcher or otlier vessel in which beer is carried home 
from the place of sale. 



176 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

for, and at the very same time this outcast's daughter 
came in with a pitcher under her shawl, and had it 
filled for the blood-stained dime that she had placed 
on the bar. . . . It is something worse than the 
violation of a prohibitory law, a law which many do 
not favour ; it is something worse than the squander- 
ing of money — the waste and ruin of life, the destruc- 
tion of homes that is going on. Our indifference and 
the allowed violation is something worse than all 
these, though these are bad enough. It means a 
generation educated in lawlessness, the breaking down 
of the safeguards that make life, home and society 
possible. In the words of Roosevelt, ' The worst 
possible lesson to teach any citizen is contempt for 
law.' " 1 

These outspoken utterances, widely reported as they 
were in the public press, appear to have roused some 
at least of the city officials to anger, and Mr. Hack 
especially was taken to task by the mayor for pub- 
lishing "extravagant" statements. Liquor-selling, 
it was admitted, was carried on in Portland, but it 
was carried on in secret and hidden places and with- 
out the knowledge — so it was pleaded — of the sheriff 
and police. This rejoinder was, however, worse than 
useless, for Mr. Hack at once undertook a series of 
personal investigations, in the course of which he 
visited a large number of liquor-saloons, purchasing 
liquor in some and taking photographs of many. The 
results of the investigations were made public shortly 
afterwards (February 2nd, 1896), in an illustrated 
lecture which Mr. Hack delivered in his own church. 
The negatives of many of the slides used on that occa- 
sion are now in the possession of the present writers, 
^ Portland Express, October 2nd, 1895. 



STATE PROHIBITION 177 

and examination shows that they represent in many 
cases identically the same places that are openly sell- 
ing liquor in Portland at the present time. We sub- 
join a few extracts from the published report of the 
lecture : — 

" ' After being told by a certain judge that I didn't 
know anything about it/ said the pastor, ^ I made up 
my mind that I would go into the places myself, and 
see for myself whether it was so difficult for the 
officers of the law to find these place where liquor is 
sold.' The speaker then dwelt upon the fact that he 
wished to satisfy himself in what manner and to what 
extent the prohibitory law was being broken in Port- 
land. He said the great question was, how to lessen 
the evils of intemperance among us, and how to break 
the power of the saloon in Portland. . . . Then 
came the illustrated part of the lecture, which proved 
a startling surprise to the immense congregation. 
The pastor said that he had been told that he had no 
right proof what they were selling in these places, 
whether it was soda water or Sebago water. That he 
didn't know but what it was peppermint that they were 
selling, ' but,' he exclaimed, ' I have bought the stuff! 
I have evidence now ! Look upon this first picture,' 
he continued, as he took the pointer and faced the 
screen. The first picture was a section of the westerly 
side of India Street, near the Grrand Trunk Depot. 
He did not mention any names, but said that he went 
in there, saw the bar and the bottles and the people 
calling for whisky and beer, and drinking. He sar- 
castically referred to this as a secret place — a place 
that neither all the police [nor] the liquor deputies 
could find, but he found it. . . . Picture number 
two was a section of ' sailor town,' between the Cus- 

12 



178 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

torn House and Market Street. He said he went into 
that place and bought liquor. He described the bar 
and the bottles, but did not mention any names in 
connection with it. Picture number three was a 
view of the block on the left-hand side of Middle 
Street, near Franklin. It showed a restaurant. He 
said the place had a bar and tables where people sat 
drinking. There were also stalls with curtains to 
screen the occupants. He and his companions asked 
for the drinks, and they were served to them in a 
stall. The pastor said that he often since wondered 
what the bar-tender thought when he went to the 
stall after their departure, only to find that the liquor 
had not been drunk. . . . Picture number four, 
he said, was that known as Keating's, which place he 
was informed had, in its time, caused much sorrow in 
this city. He described how one noon he stood at the 
Grand Trunk Depot and counted men from the 
wharves entering the place at the rate of two a 
minute. The next picture showed a section of Plea- 
sant Street and Gorham's Corner. He said that there 
was a bar room on each corner, and they went in one 
place and purchased liquors. He said that these 
places only closed at a certain hour in the evening. 
The next three pictures were saloons on Center Street, 
which street, he said, was chock full of saloons. The 
next pictures were those of the hotels, including five 
views of the West End. He described the bar at that 
place, and saw a young man buy a drink, and, after 
swallowing it, the young man said : ' Put that on the 
slate.' The bar-tender replied, ' I hardly think there's 
room.' The next pictures were devoted to the Fal- 
mouth, Swett's, and the Perry House. The police 
cannot find these places, the sheriff cannot find these 



STATE PROHIBITION 179 

places, then how could a humble Congregational 
clergyman find them ? These structures should have 
placed over their arched entrances the inscription, 
^ All Hope Abandon Ye Who Enter Here.' The next 
to the last picture displayed was that of Eagen's. 
The pastor alluded to the alleged assault on young 
Doyle in that place, and forcibly remarked that at 
last he had found a place that the police knew about. 
They closed it up for a week. The time has come for 
the people to stand together in the defence of their 
homes and their native land." ^ 

But the evidence does not stop here. The same 
paper contains a verbatim report of a sermon de- 
livered by yet another Portland minister at the 
same time. This sermon, also, was based upon per- 
sonal investigations. We give a few extracts from 
the published report : — " The West End Congre- 
gational Church was crowded to the doors last 
evening with a congregation attracted by the 
published notice that the pastor. Rev. Leroy S. 
Bean, was to speak upon the liquor question, his 
subject being, ' An Evening with the Rum-Shops 
of Portland.' People from all parts of the city 
were present. . . . The usual preliminary ser- 
vice was held, after which Mr. Bean commenced his 
address or sermon. He read his remarks from manu- 
script for the reason that he did not wish to be mis- 
quoted. He disclaimed all desire for notoriety or 
sensationalism, but desired to speak facts, with a 
full knowledge of his responsibility for his remarks. 
. . . Mr. Bean read extracts from the Christian 
Mirror descriptive of the liquor business as it was 
carried on last November. He believed that the 
* Portland Daily Eastern Argus, Februar}^ 3rd, 1896. 



i8o THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

respectable elderly and retired citizens wlio ' believed 
that the law was fairly well enforced ' do a good deal 
of harm to the cause. Mr. Bean attacked the pleasant 
fiction that it is very hard to obtain evidence against 
rum-sellers. He said he himself and other members 
of the [Civic] League had been around the city and 
had openly bought liquor over regularly fitted bars 
in more or less prominent places. The Civic League 
has employed no spotters, the work of investigation 
has been carried on at the expense and trouble of 
its own members. 'We have done what no money 
could have tempted us to do, taken of our scant time, 
left the society of our friends of evenings to seek that 
of the law-breakers of this our town. "We have stood 
at the bars of the hotels and saloons, have paid, not 
the funds of the League, but our own money, over 
the bar for liquor. We have ascertained that there 
is nothing difficult about the obtaining of evidence 
during the present open, unrestrained reign of rum. 
We have not done this work for the sake of making 
a few complaints and seizures in this city, but for 
the purpose of uncovering to the light of heaven, 
and to the public judgment, the present corrupt and 
unblushing character of the liquor traffic in this 
citj. I wished, when it should come my turn to 
preach a temperance sermon, to stand here, in my 
own pulpit, before my own people, and tell them 
the exact truth about the liquor business in Port- 
land. To tell them whether it was true that it was 
difficult to get liquor in Portland or not ; whether it 
was sold secretly or openly, in evident fear of the 
officers or in conscious immunity from interference 
from sheriffs and police. But I wished also to have 
one with me who should see what I saw, who should 



STATE PROHIBITION i8i 

be able to speak for himself in tbis matter, a man in 
whom you all would place a confidence equal to that 
which I believe you repose in me. I therefore in- 
vited my Sunday School Superintendent to bear me 
company in this enterprise. And I shall now ask you 
to come with us on a short trip among a few of the 
rum-shops of Portland. And as we go forth on our 
mission I ask you to remember that our work is but a 
section of what has been done. I also ask you to 
remember that we have no ill-will against the places 
I am about to name, that we have reason to know 
that others are just as bad, and that we do not name 
these because they are sinners above all those who 
sell rum in Portland, but because they are places 
which we have visited, and because they probably 
fairly represent the conditions of the city. 

" ' Let us suppose that we have just come into Portland 
vid the Grand Trunk E,.E;. Near the station we see a 
suspicious-looking place, which we are told is kept by 
one Pat Keating, No. 7, Commercial Street. There are 
three of us in company, for we have been joined by a 
gentleman prominent in one of the down-town churches, 
whom we will know this evening as Mr. A. It is 
Saturday evening, January 18. Mr. A. and the Super- 
intendent call for liquor, which is promptly furnished, 
and for which each pays. No surprise is manifested 
by the bar-tender that strangers from the street should 
call for liquor ; the crowd talking and drinking at the 
bar make way with ready good-will for the new- 
comers. All that was necessary to get in here was 
to push the door open and go in — no secret knocks, 
no pass-words, no questions asked. Pat is evidently 
in the business, and fairly well. Policemen frequently 
pass this door ; they frequently stand on the corner 



i82 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

there by the G-.T.R., where they must be able to 
witness the procession. One almost wonders if they 
are there to make an arrest if some one should come 
in and, having obtained his rum, fail to pay for the 
same. But let us pass to a liquor shop of a very 
different character ; that is, if a liquor shop can be said 
to have character. Let us enter the bar-room of the 
Falmouth Hotel. No guard stands at the door to give 
notice of new arrivals and proclaim the name and 
official standing of visitors. Here are two bar-tenders. 
Evidently business is fairly good at the Falmouth. I 
call for one pint of brandy. "With generous foresight 
the Falmouth has provided for just such an emergency. 
A bright, clean flask is produced, the brandy poured 
into it, and I pay one dollar and fifty cents. My 
brother calls for a half-pint of whisky. He furnishes 
the bottle himself, and the charge is thirty-five cents. 
Notice these young men behind the bar : they do not 
seem excited, they are in no haste, they move leisurely, 
and inspire you with something of their own calm 
confidence. No locks, no guards, no questions. Evi- 
dently the Falmouth is in the business. 

'"One of our most reputable daily papers rebuked the 
Rev. Mr. "Wright, of St. Lawrence Street, for taking 
too gloomy a view of the present situation in an ad- 
dress of his before the Civic League. It said, speaking 
of the change during the last twenty-five years, 'then 
almost, if not quite, every one of the hotels had an 
open bar, not concealed in the slightest degree. There 
is nothing of that kind to-day.' "What does it mean 
by 'an open bar ' ? One outdoors on the sidewalk, 
with a big sign calling attention to its presence ? If 
so, there is nothing of the kind to-day. But if it 
means one which is a regular part of the hotel equip- 



STATE PROHIBITION 183 

ment, open to the general public, with public sales, 
then the newspaper is either wonderfully ignorant as 
to conditions in Portland, or guilty of what President 
Cleveland would call ' malicious mendacity.' 

'''But let us pass up to Monument Square and enter 
the United States Hotel. The bar-room lies this way, 
through the office. See these people going in looking 
thirsty, those coming out looking as satisfied. Here is 
a bar with every appearance of permanency, like that 
at the Falmouth and other places yet to be visited. 
It was not put in yesterday. We are beginning to 
lose our expectation of seeing the valiant sheriff and 
his redoubtable deputies come bursting into the bar ; 
we look about us leisurely; it is Saturday evening, 
January 25th. I purchase a half-pint of gin, for 
which I pay thirty-five cents ; my Sunday School 
Superintendent calls for a half -pint of whisky, for 
which he pays the same. As we pass out, we meet 
more people coming in. Evidently business is brisk 
at the United States. Some good people are greatly 
horrified that any respectable person will enter such a 
place, and then, having bought liquor, make the fact 
public. The singular thing is that they are more 
scandalized by such a procedure than they are by the 
fact that the law is wilfully and habitually violated. 
They think it is inciting crime. Inciting to crime ! 
"What is this bar-room for ? What these empty flasks 
and bottles? What this supply of liquors? They 
are in the business. There is no air of secrecy about 
this, no pledges of concealment. The selling is as 
open, as undisguised, as purely a matter of dollars 
and cents as any other business. ... At the 
Perry House, Mr. A. and the Superintendent pass in, 
and on their coming out, both report having pur- 



i84 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

cliased liquor, and the Superintendent has with him 
another half-pint of whisky. 

" * We will now enter Swett's Hotel. At the bar stand 
&ve young men drinking. This is one of the marked 
features in nearly every place visited — the large per- 
centage of young men who are drinking. This indi- 
cates, not that the old confirmed topers will have their 
liquor, but that the young men of our city are form- 
ing drinking habits, and are being debauched by the 
open rum-shops of Portland. This bar has all the 
appearance of being a fixture in this hotel. I pur- 
chase here one half-pint of gin, and my Sunday 
School Superintendent one half -pint of whisky, for 
which we pay forty cents each. Passing Swett's also 
over to the future attention of our guileless and un- 
suspecting officials, let us change our course some- 
what, and pass down Center Street. Here rum-shops 
seem to abound. Amid such a richness of material 
it is difficult to make any choice. But we are helped 
to our choice by the opening of a saloon and the 
emergence into the street of two young men, one of 
them so drunk that he has to be supported by the 
main strength of the other. We should hardly ex- 
pect that rum-shops would abound in such proximity 
to the public school, but we pass in. A drunken man 
leans against the wall at one side of the room, and 
leers at us out of his bleared eyes. Here I purchase 
a half -pint of whisky, for which I pay thirty cents. 
Evidently prices are lower on Center Street than at 
the United States, Swett's, Falmouth, etc. ; but likely 
the quality is not as good. Coming out and proceed- 
ing to Fore Street, notice the rum-shops about you. 
Stand here and at the middle of Center, at its junction 
with Fore, look up Center toward Congress ; then 



STATE PROHIBITION 1S5 

turn and look along Fore. Take a good long look. 
These bright-buttoned policemen whom you salute as 
they pass on their beat, one almost wonders at their 
presence here. It is sad to think of the extreme care 
they must be obliged to exercise not to see some of 
these places. . . . But time is passing ; let us 
enter Feeney's, right here on the corner of Center 
and Fore Streets. My money is getting low, and I 
tell my brother that he may pay here if he will. He 
accordingly buys one half-pint of whisky. He called 
for gin, but the bar-tender said they didn't keep gin 
— we could get that at the drug store — but they did 
have some ' good whisky.' My brother paid for this 
^ good whisky ' the sum of twenty-five cents. Com- 
petition is brisk here and prices low. ... In all 
these places there was no secrecy about the sale of 
liquor, no question asked as to what it was for. Men 
were coming and going continually, and I feel sure 
business was as brisk as at any grocery in town.' 
. . . Mr. Bean next read extracts from the press 
concerning John Doyle, who was fatally injured in 
Eagan's saloon last fall, giving an extended history 
of the place. He said that he had looked up the case 
of Eagan, and found out that on January 18th, the 
day when Jerry Reardon was convicted of the assault 
on Doyle, Mr. Bean and two others bought liquor 
there in the presence of thirty of as tough people as 
he ever saw. Mr. Bean asked whether it was thought 
that Eagan had a pull, or that the officers thought 
that ' public sentiment ' would endorse such a radical 
measure as closing up what the press calls ' one of the 
toughest holes in Portland.' . . . ' We have re- 
cently,' continued the preacher, ' had a somewhat 
noted libel suit in this city, between one Plummer 



1 86 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

[i.e., the sheriff] and the Evening Press. "With the 
merits of the case, as such, I have nothing to do, but 
the evidence and the arguments in the case make 
extraordinarily interesting reading and incidentally 
throw considerable light upon the enforcement of 
law in Portland. Mr. Heath [counsel for the defence] 
is reported as saying of the plaintiff in the case : — 
" And this gentleman who stood about your street 
corners, drawing $2 a day, Sundays included, when 
there were hundreds of rum-shops disgracing the 
city of Portland, with her hotels, with her drug 
stores, with her wholesale druggists, with gilded hells 
from one end of this city to the other, he makes one 
seizure a week against some unfortunate individual 
whose name ordinarily is Patrick or Michael." Now 
this was not the utterance of some clergyman within 
the sanctuary of his pulpit, but a reputable lawyer 
in open court, in the presence of the bench. . . . 
With all due respect I commend these words to the 
sheriff of Cumberland County and to the mayor and 
city marshal of Portland.' " ^ 

It is unnecessary to multiply evidence. It is enough 
to point out that most of the saloons here referred to 
may be seen openly selling liquor in Portland at the 
present time. 

Estimated population, 
1899. 

Lewiston . . . . . . 24,000 

But Portland is not singular in its deliberate and 
systematic violation of the prohibitory law. A similar 
condition of things exists — with one exception — in all 
the principal towns of the State. The one exception 
is Auburn (population, 13,000)— a city which, although 

1 Portland Daily Eastern Argus, February 3rd, 1896. 



STATE PROHIBITION 187 

teclinically and administratively separate, is so closely 
connected with Lewiston as to form, for all practical 
purposes, part of that city, from which, indeed, it is 
only separated by a series of bridges which form parts 
of the main thoroughfares. So unreal geographically 
is the distinction that one of the present writers was 
not at first aware that the hotel at which he was 
staying was situate in Auburn, and not, as he had 
supposed, in Lewiston. Liquor is, by universal admis- 
sion, so easily and regularly obtained from Lewiston 
that the case of Auburn need not be further considered 
here. It furnishes, however, a useful illustration of 
the way in which a policy of local prohibition may 
sometimes be successfully applied where there is an 
effective '' safety-valve " in the shape of facilities for 
the purchase of liquor near at hand.^ 

Lewiston, the present population of which is about 
24,000, is a busy manufacturing centre, and the second 
largest city in Maine. It has a large French element 
in its population, and this fact undoubtedly accounts 
for the low "dives" which abound in the city, and 
which the police admit to be their " worst trouble " in 
connection with the drink traffic. These " dives " are 
largely run by women, and are used as places of accom- 
modation for immoral purposes. They also sell liquor 
freely on Sundays when the more regular saloons are 
required to close. 

Apart from these places, however, the liquor traffic 
is carried on in Lewiston much as it is done in Port- 
land. The saloons are as open to the street and are 
as much " accepted " by the officials as there, although 

^ It may be of interest to state that only four persons in 
Auburn took out Federal licences for the sale of intoxicating 
liquors in the year ending June 30th, 1899. 



i88 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

tHeir appointments are not always so elaborate as in 
the wealthier city. Ordinarily a few cigars and some 
tobacco are placed in the windows of the saloon, while 
the bar proper is screened from view by a thin wooden 
partition furnished with a hanging curtain or swing- 
door. This door is frequently open, and both bar and 
customers may often be seen from the street. The 
bars are always of the ordinary American type, which 
differs — even in licence States — from an English bar, 
in that no beer engines are visible. A few of the 
saloons are also restaurants where ordinary meals can 
be obtained. One of the largest of these was visited 
in the course of the present investigations. It con- 
sisted of two compartments, separated from each other 
by a thin partition and furnished with small tables. 
The larger of the two was an ordinary cafe, with the 
exception that one side of it was divided off into small 
cubicle compartments each fitted with a small table 
for two persons, and furnished with a blind and 
curtains instead of a door. These places are common 
in the cities of Maine, and are unquestionably often 
used as places of " assignation." In this case our visit 
was paid during the quietest part of the day, and only 
one other customer was present. This was a woman, 
who was served with a glass of beer. 

No attempt is made by the city officials to hide the 
existing state of things. The mayor, when inter- 
viewed, stated that it was impossible to enforce the 
law— public sentiment, he said, would not allow it; 
consequently the city government tries to '' regulate " 
the traffic and keep it within decent bounds. The ex- 
mayor (an attorney, who has been three times mayor 
of the city) gave strong confirmatory testimony. He 
admitted quite frankly that the prohibitory law 



STATE PROHIBITION 189 

was not enforced in Lewiston, and said that it conld 
not be enforced in the present state of public opinion. 
All that he had attempted to do when mayor of the 
city (in 1898) was to close the low '' dives " and to stop 
Sunday sales. On being further questioned, he said 
that the present condition of things was fairly normal. 
The traffic was perhaps a little more '' open " now than 
in some earlier years, but there had always been liquor 
selling in Lewiston. The traffic was carried on, he 
added, under both political parties, the " colour " of the 
administration making no real difference in the atti- 
tude of the city government towards the traffic. 

The city marshal (who is a total abstainer) was 
equally explicit. Speaking of prohibition in the 
towns generally, he said, " It is a perfect farce." In 
Lewiston, he added, he could get no effective support 
for enforcement, so that the efforts of the police were 
now restricted to " regulating " the traffic. They do 
their best to suppress '' dives " and " kitchen-bars," but 
let the decent saloons run. The latter, however, are 
required to close their bars at 10 p.m. and to keep 
closed on Sundays. The saloon-keepers observe these 
regulations " fairly well," but the police find it impos- 
sible to suppress Sunday selling altogether. 

The information obtained from the sheriff's depart- 
ment was to the same effect. The sheriff was not 
himself present when the inquiries were made, but 
one of his deputies frankly admitted that it was the 
" dives" that the special liquor deputies paid most atten- 
tion to. The ordinary saloons are " visited " for revenue 
purposes chiefly. Many of the saloon-keepers, he said, 
could easily stand three fines a year. He admitted 
that the '' fines " were a great source of public revenue, 
and " guessed " that the county could not get on with- 



190 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

out tliem, and " wouldn't like to try anyway." They 
liad indictments representing from six to eight 
thousand dollars ready for the September term of the 
Superior Court, but he had known the liquor '^ fines " 
to mount up to $12,000 in a single term. The present 
condition of things, however, was tolerably normal. 

Number of Saloons in Lewiston. 
It is more than usually difficult to calculate the 
number of liquor-sellers in Lewiston owing to the 
existence of the " dives," the proprietors of which do 
not as a rule pay the internal revenue tax. That 
there are many of these places in the city the police 
officials freely admit, but it is impossible to state even 
approximately the number. 

The accompanying map (Plate XIII.) shows the 
location of ninety-five places at which liquor was 
being sold in the summer of 1899. It includes, it will 
be seen, 

5 Hotels with Bars, '' on." 
54 Saloons, ''on." 
13 " Kitchen Bars," " on." 
11 Beer Clubs, "on." 
11 Drug Stores,! ''off." 
1 City Liquor Agency, "off." 

95 

So far as the hotels, saloons and drug stores are con- 
cerned the map may be taken as fairly complete ; 

^ The drug stores marked on the map do not include the legiti- 
mate drug stores in Lewiston, which, unlike those in other 
cities, have recently mutually agreed to refrain from selling 
liquor. They refer simply to what are called " bogus " drug 
stores where liquor is sold freely. 




I of which the present writers have definite 



PLATE XIII. 
showing tlie uuinber and location of Liquor Saloons, etc., 



LEWISTON, MAINE. 

Estimated Population (1899), 24,000. 




have definite 



STATE PROHIBITION 191 

indeed, in respect of these, it has been certified as 
*' absolutely correct," but in respect of " kitchen bars," 
beer clubs ''dives," etc., it does not claim to be even 
approximately complete. Only eleven beer clubs, for 
example, are shown on the map, but we have it on 
the authority of the city marshal that twenty-five 
^' drink clubs " existed in the city in August, 1899. 
The map, however, is conclusive so far as it goes, but 
it must not be taken to represent the whole of the 
places selling liquor in Lewiston. 

As a matter of fact, 110 persons in Lewiston paid 
the Federal liquor tax for the sale of intoxicating 
liquors in the year ending June 30th, 1899, and these, 
as already explained, cannot be held to include more 
than a small proportion of those who sell liquor in 
" dives," " kitchen bars," and other irregular saloons. 
The city marshal, when questioned on the point, stated 
that his officers had taken a rough census of the 
liquor-sellers in Lewiston in the spring of 1899, and 
had found 150 places selling liquor in the city. 
The census, however, he added, was not exhaustive, 
and probably not all of those actually selling were 
counted. The ex-mayor, when appealed to, said that 
" there are fully 150," and implied that there were 
probably more. The city liquor agent, when ques- 
tioned, said that there were " nearer 300 than 150 
places selling." " The whole thing," he added, " is a 
great hypocrisy." He further complained that he 
himself could not sell much liquor " with all the com- 
petition going on outside." In estimates of this kind 
exaggeration is easy, but it is difficult for any one 
who investigates the problem on the spot to believe 
that there are less than 150 places selling liquor in 
Lewiston. 



192 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

Estimated population, 
1899. 

Bangor . . . 23,000 

In Bangor — the third largest city in Maine — no 
attempt is made to enforce the law, nor, according to 
the testimony of the mayor of the city, has any such 
attempt been made for the last twenty years. ^ Suc- 
cessive city governments, obeying what they claim to 
be the mandate of the people, have throughout that 
period consistently defied the law of the State, and, 
by a method of informal '' regulation,'' have openly 
sanctioned what is virtually a system of '^ free trade " 
in liquor in the city. The liquor-sellers are ''fined" 
($100) once a year for revenue purposes, ^ and are 
expected to conform to certain broad regulations (i.e., 
close at 10 p.m. on week-days and remain closed on 
Sundays), but otherwise they are not disturbed. Any 
one — so the mayor stated — who chooses to conform to 
these regulations is free to open a liquor saloon in the 
city. 



* In the course of his examination before the Royal Canadian 
Commission in 1893, the late General Neal Dow was asked: 
"Do you know anything about how the prohibitory law works 
in the city of Bangor ? " And he replied : " I do not know 
anything good about Bangor." 

"Is it a fact that the law is flagrantly violated?" "Yes, 
flagrantly violated." 

"It has been given in evidence before the Commissioners 
that the local authorities of the city of Bangor have set the law 
at defiance and completely ignored it. Is that a fact ? "— " That 
is a fact." 

See Evidence of the Royal Canadian Commission, vol. V., p. 
454. 

2 The Clerk of Courts informed us that the " fines " for 
liquor-selling in that county (principally from Bangor) had 
averaged $16,000 (£3,200) a year for the last ten years. 



STATE PROHIBITION 193 

The saloons correspond very largely in character to 
those in Portland and Lewiston. There are no adver- 
tisements in the windows, but they are easily recog- 
nised, and open straight upon the street. Those 
entered in the course of the present investigations had 
bars of the ordinary American type, well-fitted, and 
furnished with a varied stock of liquors. There are 
bars also at all of the hotels in Bangor, to which ; ny 
one from the street has free access. The bar trade at 
the hotel at which we stayed was evidently a con- 
siderable source of revenue to the proprietors. 

Number of Liquor Saloons in Bangor. 

The accompanying map (Plate XIV.) shows the 
location of 124 places in Bangor at which liquor was 
being sold at the time of the present investigation. 
The particulars are as under : — 

95 Saloons, '' on." 
8 Hotels with bars, "on." 

16 Drug Stores, ''off." 
1 City Liquor Agency, "off." 
4 Bottling Factories, " on " and " off." 

124 

The list, like those of Portland and Lewiston, is not 
exhaustive. It does not show the whole of the places 
at which liquor is sold in Bangor, but only those of 
which the present writers have actual knowledge. ^ 
No attempt was made to include "kitchen bars" or 
other " irregular " saloons which, owing to their 

^ Tlie location of three additional saloons is known to the 
present writers, but as they lie outside the section of the city 
comprised within the accompanying map, they have been 
purposely omitted. 



194 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

liability to prosecntion by tbe police authorities, are 
carried on witb some degree of secrecy. A more 
accurate estimate of the number of liquor-sellers in 
Bangor is supplied by the fact that 155 persons in the 
city took out Federal liquor licences in the year end- 
ing June 30th, 1899, and that the mayor and city 
marshal fixed the number of liquor-sellers in the city 
at 200 and 182 respectively. We may add that the 
names and addresses of the proprietors or managers of 
the saloons shown on the map are in the possession of 
the present writers. 

Estimated population 
(1899). 

Biddeford 17,000 

The fourth largest city in Maine is Biddeford — a 
busy manufacturing centre with a large French 
element in the population. There also what the city 
clerk called the " Bangor System " of regulating the 
liquor traffic has been in operation for several years 
past. Intermittent attempts have been made by 
private citizens to secure the suppression of the 
saloons, but these have never permanently succeeded. 
In one such attempt a number of " spotters " {i.e., 
private detectives) were employed to watch the 
saloons, but the Grrand Jury refused to accept their 
evidence. On another occasion (in 1898) a deputy- 
sheriff from another part of the county was brought 
in by the temperance party to " raid " a well-known 
saloon, and a large quantity of liquor was seized. 
The " libel " was, however, rejected by the court on a 
legal quibble, and the liquors ordered to be returned 
to the saloon-keeper, while the deputy who had served 
the warrant was promptly deposed by the sheriff. In 
August, 1898, a still bolder step was taken. A series 



jjmly those of which the present writers have definite 



PLATE XIV. j 

Map showing the number and location of Liquav Salol 

BANGOR, MAINE. ' 

Estimated Population (1899), 23,000. 




NoTt.-Tlns Map does not include the whole o{ the places at which liquor is sold in Bangn 
knowledge. For the actual number of hquor saloons, etc., in Bangor, see pp. II 



only those of which the presei 



STATE PROHIBITION 195 

of grave cliarges made on oath before public notaries 
was sworn out against the city marshal by five influ- 
ential citizens in Biddeford, and subsequently pre- 
sented as a memorial to the Police Commissioners. 
Among the charges brought against the city marshal 
were the following : — 

" That the said city marshal, Charles B. Harmon, 
has repeatedly, continually and notoriously violated 
his oath of office and the Statute law of the State of 
Maine by neglecting to enforce the statute prohibiting 
the unlawful sale of intoxicating liquors. 

"That such neglect and the encouragement arising 
from its long continuance has become so well under- 
stood by the criminals and law-breakers, that the city 
is honeycombed with rum and beer saloons and kitchen 
bar-rooms, all to such an extent that our good city 
has become a disgrace to every law-abiding citizen, 
a menace to good government, a reflection on the 
church, a corruption of good morals and a dishonour to 
the State of Maine." ^ 

No notice seems to have been taken of the memorial, 
and the city marshal was still in ofEce when — a year 
later — we visited the city. On August 31st, 1899 — a 
week prior to our visit — another " raid '* was made on 
a few of the saloons (including one bottling factory) 
and more than a thousand gallons of beer, wine and 
spirits were seized, of which nearly one-half (475^ 
gallons) was seized at one establishment — a so-called 
" drug store " with a large bar in the rear of the 
shop. This raid, however, like its predecessors, had 
to be made over the heads of the city and county 
ofEcials. It was privately organized by a few local 
prohibitionists, who procured the assistance of a 

* Biddeford Record, August 19th, 1898, 



196 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

deputy-slieriff from Lebanon, and so made tlie seizures. 
The raid accomplislied one purpose — it took tlie 
liquor-sellers in Biddeford completely by surprise. It 
was, as the local paper expressed it, ''a flash of 
lightning from a clear sky. Everything had been 
going along so smooth that they were all well stocked 
up, and not looking for anything more serious than 
the bluff raids of the local deputies. . . . They were 
serenely confident that in the whole county another 
deputy-sheriff could not be found who would invite 
the fate of Parker by seizing Biddeford rum." ^ No 
permanent result seems to have followed the raid, for 
when we visited the town a week later the saloons 
were still selling.^ 

The actual condition of things in Biddeford is well 
illustrated by the following statement which appeared 
in the columns of the Biddeford Record a few days 
prior to our visit : — 

'• A beer war which does not concern the sheriffs 
and has no direct connection with politics is on. One 
Biddeford saloon has been buying its own beer direct 
through the Frank Jones Company, and thus saving 
the profit of the Bottling Company, which handles 
most of the beer and ale sold locally. There are lots 
of different ales and beers brewed, but none of them 
hit the Biddeford taste like Jones.' Anybody can buy 
Jones' ale in fi-vQ barrel lots as cheap as the Bottling 
Company, and that is what this saloon has been doing, 
and besides making a bigger profit on the retail trade, 
it has done a little something in wholesaling, and the 

^ Biddeford Weekly Record^ September 1st, 1899. 

^ Later information (January 25th, 1900), shows that resort 
to the "fining" system had again been mutually agreed upon 
by the authorities and the liquor-sellers. 



STATE PROHIBITION 197 

claim is tliat it lias cut prices a dollar a barrel. The 
Bottling Company lias ^ made a holler,' and has finally 
succeeded in having this saloon shut off. It can't buy 
Jones' ale at any price — at least, not at present. It 
has had to shift over temporarily to another ale, 
bought in Boston, that is not nearly as pleasing to 
Biddeford's cultivated taste, and of course this means 
a falling off in patronage. It looks now as though 
this saloon would have to go without Jones' ale, or 
get it through the Bottling Company. . . . An 
agent of the Jones' Company has been here looking 
into the fuss, but it is said that he stands by the 
Bottling Company. Two or three other saloons which 
have bought their ale through this other one are 
feeling the boycott." ^ In the spring of 1899 one of 
tjie local clergy (the Eev. Philip, H. Moore), following 
the example of ministers in other cities, called public 
attention to the scandal in a sermon entitled '' The 
Fallacy and Weakness of Prohibition." In the course 
of his sermon he referred — we quote from the pub- 
lished report — to " the reputation Maine's prohibitory 
law had given the State abroad, where it was generally 
thought that the law was strictly enforced, and that 
the drink evil was comparatively unknown in Maine. 
He had come into this State very favourably pre- 
judiced with reference to prohibition, but after a 
decade of residence here and travel in the various 
sections of the State, he could frankly state that he 
found the prohibitory law fallacious and weak. This 
conclusion was founded upon experience and observa- 
vation, and his conviction was firm. He would admit 
that in some respects it might have been beneficial. 
In some small communities, where through vigorous 
^ Biddeford Weekly Becord, September 1st 1899. 



198 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

sentiment tlie law was enforced, this was tlie fact. 
It had held up an ideal condition which might have 
had a beneficial effect abroad, where the true con- 
ditions were not understood, but, weighing the pro- 
hibitory law after half a century of experience, it had 
not been even fairly successful." ^ 

The Biddeford Daily Becord^ in commenting (in a 
leading article) on the sermon, said: '^ Every word of 
Mr. Moore's arraignments of the prohibitory law is 
true. He might have made it much stronger, and still 
kept within the borders of truth. . . . Prohibition 
has remained upon the Maine statute books for half a 
century, for the simple reason that it has never been 
enforced. One year of genuine enforcement, and it 
would be abolished as soon as the legislature could be 
got together. ... * Make the law respected while 
it is a law,' said Mr. Moore. There is the solution. 
Make the law respected, and everybody except the 
theorists who now sustain it will demand its repeal." ^ 



NuMBEE OF Liquor Salooxs in Biddefoed. 

It is difficult to estimate the number of liquor- 
sellers in Biddeford, owing to the fact that, as in 
Lewiston, a large amount of liquor is sold in tenement 
bar-rooms in the French quarter of the town ; but 
apart from these, it is certain that more than forty 
saloons (including hotels, restaurants, and '' drug 
stores ") were selling in the summer of 1899. The 
local press, in alluding to the matter in September, 
1899, referred to ^' fifty or sixty saloons " that were 

^ Biddeford Daily Record, April 24th, 1899. 
2 Ihid. 



STATE PROHIBITION 199 

running in tlie city, while the city clerk and others 
put the figures higher still. 

It is wiser, however, to fall back upon the evidence 
of the internal revenue returns, which show that in 
the year ending June 30th, 1899, forty-three persons 
in Biddeford took out Federal licences for the sale of 
intoxicating liquors. These do not, of course, include 
the tenement bar-rooms, but they probably offer the 
most reliable estimate of the number of ordinary 
saloons, including " bogus " restaurants and drug 
stores. 

Estimated population 
(1899). 

Augusta ...... 13,000 

The town next in order in point of population is 
Augusta, the capital of the State. The city, which 
covers a large area (38,400 acres), is situate on the 
Kennebec River, and fully deserves its reputation as 
one of the most beautiful cities in New England. It 
is largely composed of villa residences, the business 
part of the town being practically restricted to one 
long street. There is, however, a fairly large working- 
class population. 

It does not need a very intimate acquaintance with 
the city to show that the liquor traffic is as active in 
Augusta, and as frankly accepted by the officials, as 
in other cities in Maine. The saloons and liquor 
'' restaurants " meet the visitor as soon as he enters 
the business part of the town. The hotels also are 
fitted with bars, and sales are carried on freely. The 
enforcement of the law, owing to the fact that there 
are no special " liquor deputies " in the city, is left in 
the hands of the city marshal, who stated that he 
does not interfere with the liquor-dealers so long as 



200 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

they conduct tlieir business in an orderly manner. 
The liquor-sellers are, however, indicted once a year, 
and fined $150 and costs in lieu of a licence fee. This 
policy of "regulation," he affirmed, is in no sense 
governed by political considerations ; neither party, 
he declared, had given him any hint or direction in 
the matter. It is simply a concession to what experi- 
ence in Augusta has shown to be the demand of 
pu.blic opinion and the only practicable policy. Some 
years ago he had tried to enforce the law, and in 
four days had succeeded in "closing all the liquor 
places down." But the outcry, especially on the 
part of the store-keepers,^ was so great that he gave 
up the effort, and enforcement " didn't last three 
weeks." Since then he has resolutely declined to do 
more than regulate the traffic, contenting himself 
with suppressing the disorderly places. 

The mayor of the city gave similar information. 
He stated that he believed liquor to be sold at every 
hotel and drug store, as well as at all the so-called 
"lunch-rooms" and "restaurants" in the city. 
Sometimes temperance citizens made complaints, and 
urged him to compel the city marshal to enforce the 
law, but his reply was always that when the people 
of Augusta desired to have the law enforced it would 
be enforced, but not until then. That, he said, was 
the key to the present situation. Popular sentiment 
will not tolerate enforcement, and it was useless for 
the city government to attempt it. The prohibitory 
law, he added, was " a good restraining influence " in 

^ The store-keepers complained tkat the enforcement of the 
law injured their trades by keeping the country people out of 
the city. Liquor was being freely sold in Hallowell and Gar- 
diner, two neighbouring cities, at the time. 



STATE PROHIBITION 201 

tlie country districts, but in tlie cities ^' I unhesitat- 
ingly call it a farce." 

But whatever the cause, the fact of non-enforcement 
is certain. Nor is it apparently a new fact, for the 
Eoyal Canadian Commissioners, who visited the city 
in 1893, state in their report that " At Augusta, the 
capital of the State, there is little attempt made to 
conceal the fact that liquor is sold, and some of the 
Commissioners had pointed out to them several places 
where it could be obtained." Morever, there is much 
evidence to show that the violation of the law is most 
flagrant when the State legislature is in session. Most 
of the legislators stay at the Augusta House, the bar 
of which, although always open, does its chief busi- 
ness at that time. This statement is based on evidence 
of the most positive and explicit character obtained in 
the course of the present investigations. It is fully 
supported — as readers of the earlier editions of this 
volume will know — by the testimony of several unim- 
peachable witnesses (including the late General Neal 
Dow) who were examined before the Eoyal Canadian 
Commission in 1893.^ 



Number of Liquor Saloons in Augusta. 

The number of liquor-sellers in Augusta (excluding 
" kitchen bars ") cannot be put at less than from 40 to 
50. This was the estimate given by the city marshal, 
and that it is not exaggerated is clear both from the 
returns of the Internal Revenue Department and the 
records of the courts. The former show that 46 persons 

^ See earlier editions of this work, pp. 158-9. See also Evi- 
dence of the Royal Canadian Commission, vol. y. 



202 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

in Augusta took out Federal liquor licences in the 
year ending June 30tli, 1899, while the latter give the 
names of 48 liquor-dealers who in 1898 — the latest 
year for which returns are published — were " fined " 
for liquor selling, nearly the whole of them being 
" fined " for maintaining what is technically called a 
'' liquor nuisance " (i.e., a place where sales are regularly 
made). The numbers for the two previous years are 
almost identical, 44 persons being " indicted " in 1897, 
and 42 in 1896. The established character of the 
traffic is shown by the fact that the same persons are 
indicted and " fined " year after year. 

The total amount received for liquor " fines " in 
Kennebec County (which includes the towns of Au- 
gusta, Gardiner, Hallowell, Waterville, etc.) in 1898 
was $22,531,1 of which $9,138 was collected in Augusta. 
The popular idea of the " fining " system was clearly 
indicated by a statement which appeared in one of the 
local papers at the time of our visit, in August, 1899. 
In announcing the completion and cost ($5,000) of 
important renovations in the interior of the County 
Court House at Augusta, which, it was claimed, had 
made the court room " one of the finest in New Eng- 
land," the paper said : " Our county liquor license system 
furnished the money.''' ^ 

Estimated population 
(1899). 

Bath 12,000 

The next largest city is Bath , a city whose popula- 
tion was less than 9,000 at the last census, but which 
has since grown rapidly. 

^ In 1897 the amount was $18,173, and in 1896 $16,583. 
^ New Age (Augusta), August 25tli, 1899. 



STATE PROHIBITION 203 

Here also the saloons run openly, the policy of the 
authorities being one of " regulation " and " fines." 
The saloons are required to close at 10 p.m. on week- 
days, and to remain closed on Sundays and such other 
days (i.e., holidays) as the chief of police may demand. 
They are also prohibited from serving drunkards and 
minors. That the present condition of things is fairly 
normal was admitted by all the city and county 
officials who were interviewed in the course of the 
present investigations. The ''fining" system, how- 
ever, appears to have been made more systematic 
since 1898. The city clerk, when questioned, said : 
" Prohibition is a farce : we have got better bars 
here than ever." The clerk of courts stated that he 
had only known one saloon to be "closed up " in six 
years, and that was owing to a quarrel between the 
saloon-keeper and his bar-tender. Formerly, they had 
employed two special " liquor-deputies " to assist in 
" enforcing " the law, but the practice was discon- 
tinued in 1898, when it was thought that more satis- 
factory financial results could be obtained by leaving 
the administration in the hands of the city marshal. 
He said that the liquor-deputies cost the county about 
$1,200 a year, and that they " hardly brought in that 
amount in ' fines.' " The present policy was to fine 
the beer-sellers once a year and the dealers in " hard " 
liquors (i.e., spirits) twice. He estimated that in this 
way the county would get from $6,000 to $7,000 a 
year from Bath alone. That, at least, was the amount 
which they expected to receive in 1899. Confirmatory 
evidence was given by the city marshal and by the 
judge of the municipal court. The latter estimated 
the number of liquor-sellers in Bath at " from 40 to 
60," and these figures are supported by the internal 



204 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

revenue returns, wliicli show that in tlie year ending 
June SOtli, 1899, 44 persons in Bath took out Federal 
liquor licences. 

Estimated population 
(1899). 

Rockland . . . . . . 9,000 

The only other town in Maine which at the last 
census had a population of more than 8,000 inhabi- 
tants is Rockland, the shire town of Knox County. 
The state of things here is sufEciently shown by the 
fact that in the year ending June 30th, 1899, no less 
than 33 persons, or one to every 270 of the population, 
took out Federal licences for the sale of intoxicating 
liquors. 

Estimated population 
(1899). 

Waterville 10,000 



Of the towns which at the last census had less than 
8,000 inhabitants, the most important, probably, is 
"Waterville, the population of which in 1890 was 7,107, 
but is now estimated at about 10,000. The town, al- 
though small, is a busy manufacturing centre, and 
contains several good mills. Here also the liquor 
traffic is openly conducted, and apparently has been 
so conducted for a number of years. Occasionally 
efforts have been made to suppress the saloons, but 
these have resulted in the failure that appears to 
overtake all such attempts in the cities of Maine. 
Of late years the traffic has become much more 
aggressive, as the following extract from the mayor's 
inaugural address to the city council on March 8th, 
1897, will show :— 



STATE PROHIBITION 205 

''Now there is an evil that exists in this city, as in 
all others in the State. It has been countenanced by 
both parties. It has been the real power in both 
parties alike. It has said who shall be elected and 
who shall not. I refer to the liquor power. It is the 
power that dictates caucuses and elections. . . . The 
dealers have been allowed all the licence they desired, 
and I regret that they have carried the business on 
as they have the past year. It has been grossly over- 
done — out of all reason. No one of any reason ex- 
pects the sale of liquors to be entirely stopped. No 
one desires to trouble a well-conducted hotel. Of all 
the colossal farces of the nineteenth century, the 
greatest is the so-called enforcement of the Maine law. 
The ofEcials do not want the sale of liquor stopped. 
The county does not want it stopped ; it wants the 
revenue. The courts do not want it stopped. The 
lawyers do not want it stopped. But when the sellers 
carry it on in such a defiant and open manner as has 
been done in this city for the past year, the better 
part of the community demand a halt. To establish, 
in defiance of law, a bar costing nearly $1,000, to run 
it wide open day and night, to cart in broad daylight 
through Main Street two hayracks full of empty 
barrels at one time, with the dealer's name con- 
spicuous in large letters — it is too barefaced." 

The protest seems to have produced little practical 
result, for at the time of our visit to the city, more 
than two years later (August, 1899), the traific was 
carried on openly and without disguise. The liquor- 
dealers are supposed to be " fined " twice a year,^ and 

^ According to the covirt records tlie usual practice would 
seem to be to impose a single fine of $150 and costs. Of 25 
liquor-dealers indicted in 1898 only 7 were fined twice. 



2u6 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

to observe tlie usual regulations. They are not 
allowed to open before 6 a.m. on week-days, nor to 
remain open after 10 p.m. (Saturdays, 11 p.m.). They 
are also forbidden to open on Sundays, or to serve 
minors or drunkards. So long as they observe these 
regulations they are not disturbed. 

The number of liquor saloons in the city is shown 
in the accompanying map (Plate XY.), which gives 
the actual location of those selling in the summer of 
1899. It does not include "kitchen bars," of which 
there are very few in Waterville ; nor does it include 
the whole of the clubs. Several of the latter — certi- 
fied by the police as of ''little consequence" — have 
been purposely omitted. The list, it will be seen, in- 
cludes : — 



4 Hotels with bars 
11 Saloons 

2 Restaurants (beer only) 
7 Drugstores, ''off."i 



, ''on." 



4 Clubs, 



28 



The number of persons who took out Federal liquor 
licences during the year was 31. 

The saloons visited had ordinary American bars, 
and were well fitted and furnished. In one case the 
bar-tender, in reply to a question, stated that business 
was "Very good, especially in the afternoons and 
evenings." 

* In a few cases the drug stores sell for consumption ** on " 
the premises also. 



PLATE XV. 
Map showing the number and location of Liquor Saloons, etc., 



WATERVILLE, MAINE. 

Estimated Population ilSlith, 1U,(100. 




STATE PROHIBITION 207 

Population (1890) . 

Gardiner 5,491 

In G-ardiner — another of the smaller towns visited 
— a precisely similar condition of things prevails. The 
liquor-dealers, of whom there are from sixteen to 
twenty,^ are fined once or twice a year — according, 
so it would seem, to their supposed ability to pay — 
and for the rest are simply required to conform to 
the usual regulations. The system, in short, as the 
oiEcials admit, is virtually one of licence. 



Towns of from 3,500 to 8,000 inhabitants. 

It is impossible within the limits of the present 
chapter to give detailed information of all the smaller 
towns in Maine. Nor is such a method necessary 
The following table will sufEce to indicate the general 
situation. It gives the number of Federal liquor 
licences issued in the year ending June 30th, 1899, in 
the whole of the remaining towns whose population 
at the last census exceeded 3,500 but was less than 
8,000.^ The towns, it will be noticed, are ranged in 
order of population. 

* This is tlie number given to the present writers by the city 
officials. The internal revenue returns show that 19 persons 
took out Federal liquor licences in 1899, while the court records 
shov^ that 18 dealers were indicted and fined in 1898 for main- 
taining a " liquor nuisance." The number given above includes 
two hotels with bars and one drug store. 

2 Cape Elizabeth (which was divided in 1895) and Deering 
(now a part of Portland) are omitted. The former had three 
Federal liquor tax-payers in 1898-9, and the latter six. 



208 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



Population 

Town. (1890). 

Calais 7,290 

Westbrook . 6,632 

Saco 6,075 

Brunswick 6,012 

Old Town . 5,312 

Belfast 5,294 

Skowhegan ^ 5,068 

Eastport 4,908 

Ellsworth 4,804 

Camden (including Eockport) 4,621 

Sanford 4,201 

Brewer 4,193 

Caribou . 4,087 

Houlton 4,015 

Fort Fairfield ...... 3,526 

Fairfield 3,510 

"Waldoborough . . . . . . 3,505 



No. of 
Federal 

Liquor 
Licences 

(1899). 

16 

9 

5 
27 
29 
13 
10 
22 
12 

9 

2 

6 
11 
16 

5 

8 

4 



Towns of less than 3,500 inhabitants. 

Nor would it be true to suppose that even in smaller 
"towns " {i.e., places witb less tban 3,500 inhabitants 
the liquor traffic has been universally abolished. The 
traffic in these smaller places is less openly conducted 
than in the cities, but it exists in many of them, and 



1 The following statement concerning Skowhegan appeared 
during the course of the present investigations : — " When the 
new year came in, only the hotels were allowed to run bars. 
Within the past month or so other places have been opened." — 
Boston Herald, August 13th, 1899. 



STATE PROHIBITION 209 

in some cases with the deliberate connivance of the 
officials. In Hallo well, for example, a " city " with 
about 3,000 inhabitants,^ the trafEc is '^ regulated " in 
the same open and deliberate way as in Augusta, 
The liquor-dealers — of whom (exclusive of ^'kitchen 
bars ") there have been eight or nine during the last 
three years ^ — are " fined" once a year (in one or two 
cases twice a year), but otherwise they are not 
disturbed. They are expected, however, to observe 
the usual regulations as to hours of closing, etc. 
The revenue from "liquor fines" amounted in 1898 
(the latest year for which returns are published) to 
$1,519. The permanence of the traffic is illustrated 
by the recurrence of the same names year after year. 
A still more striking illustration was afforded by 
Lisbon Falls, a village lying some ten miles S.E. from 
Auburn. The village forms part of the '' town " (or 
township) ^ of Lisbon, and has a population of about 
1,600. Although the traffic is not openly accepted or 
"regulated" by the officials, it is well known to exist, 
and we were informed by the resident magistrate — 
himself a prohibitionist — that he personally was con- 
vinced that at least seven places (of which he gave 



^ The populationwas 3,181 in 1890, and is said to have declined 
since then. 

^ The city marshal stated that only seven were selling (exclu- 
sive of " kitchen bars ") in August, 1899 ; .but the records show 
that there were at least eight in 1897 and 1898, and that nine 
persons took out Federal liquor licences in the year ending June 
80th, 1899. 

* The word " toivn " is often loosely emploj^ed in America to 
denote what is properly a township, i.e., a group of scattered 
villages. It is necessary to keep this fact clearlj'- in mind in 
considering the results of prohibition in what are called the 
" towns " of Maine. 

14 



210 THE TEiMPERANCE PROBLEM 

tlie names) were selling. The internal revenue returns 
sliow that nine persons in Lisbon Falls took out Federal 
liquor licences in the year ending June SOth, 1899. 



Success in Rural Districts. 

In view of these facts the question inevitably arises : 
How are we to explain the claims constantly put for- 
ward, and widely accepted, of the success of prohibi- 
tion in Maine ? The explanation appears when we 
carefully analyse those claims. Many of them have 
undoubtedly been loosely and ambiguously worded, 
and have appeared to convey a meaning entirely 
different from that which it would seem they were 
intended to convey. But, speaking broadly, it will 
be found upon examination that what is claimed is 
not that prohibition has succeeded in the towns (using 
the word in the English sense) but in' the rural dis- 
tricts. A reference to the extracts taken from the 
Governor's addresses to the legislature, which are given 
in the Appendix to this volume,^ will show this at 
once. 

It is to be remembered that Maine is essentially a 
rural and not a manufacturing State. Its population 
is widely scattered, no less than two-thirds of the people 
being found in towns of less than 3,500 inhabitants, 
and one-fourth (23 per cent.) in villages (or " towns ") 
of less than 1,000 inhabitants.^ Now, so far as a large 

1 See p. 707. 

^ " The northern portion of Mahie, comprising 4,000 square 
miles, is practically without settlement. The only inhabitants 
of this region are the occupants of logging camps, who remain 
there only in the winter, and a handful of enterprising summer 
tourists. The country is a dense forest mainly level, but diver- 



STATE PROHIBITION 211 

number of these smaller villages or scattered hamlets 
are concerned, it is indisputable that prohibition has 
been successful. The old and, in many cases, disre- 
putable highway inns and taverns have been entirely 
suppressed, and enforcement of the law has become 
comparatively easy. It is not that the people are 
universally abstainers, but that the needs of the 
drinking part of the population are met either by the 
manufacture of cider or by the facilities which are 
almost always present for obtaining liquor from the 
towns. ^ That prohibition is not universally effectual 
even in the smaller places is, however, clear not only 
from official returns, but also from the testimony of 

sified here and there by hills, which in a few instances rise to 
the dignity of mountains. . . . The climate is severe, and this, 
added to the poverty of the soil and the labour involved in 
clearing it for agriculture, has prevented its occupation, while 
rich farming lands can be obtained Linder liberal homestead 
laws in the west. Another, and slightly more remote cause has 
operated, to a considerable extent, in preventing the spread of 
settlement in this State. This is the decline in shipbuilding, 
especially of wooden vessels — a business in which this State 
was largely interested. This has not only checked the general 
prosperity of the State, but has injured the lumber business 
greatly. During recent years there has been a slight movement 
into this region. A line of settlement has extended up the 
eastern border of the State, and this is now spreading very 
gradually westward. It is safe to predict, however, that not 
until all that part of the prairie country which lies east of the 
limit of the arid region shall have been settled, will population 
move decidedly toward this section. " — United States Census 
Beport^ 1890, p. xxviii. 

^ Judge Larrabee stated that " two-thirds " of the liquor sold 
in Gardiner was sold to persons living in the surrounding 
country districts. This statement was evidently a rough and 
hasty generalization, but it is certain that there, as in other 
cities, large quantities of liquor are sold to non-residents. See 
footnote, p. 200. 



212 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

tliose who are warm supporters of tlie prohibitory law. 
The Eev. "Wilbur P. Berry, Secretary of the Maine 
Christian Civic League, and a strong prohibitionist, 
writing to Zion^s Herald on January 26th, 1898, said : 
"It is usually affirmed that the sale of liquor in 
Maine is confined to the larger centres of population, 
and that the smaller towns and rural sections are 
entirely free from the liquor traffic. An examination 
of the internal revenue list shows that the traffic in 
liquor is, to a certain extent, in the small centres 
and rural sections, though the bulk of the traffic is 
in the cities and large towns. As a rule those dwell- 
ing in the thinly settled portions of the State obtain 
such liquor as they use when they go to town, or 
through a friend, or through the usually accommo- 
dating stage-driver. " In support of this statement 
Mr. Berry gave the names of a long list of towns, 
ranging in population from 2,000 upwards, in which 
liquor-sellers (i.e., persons holding Federal liquor 
licences) existed in 1897. He further stated that he 
had discovered " 75 other towns and plantations, '^ 
varying in population from 200 to 2,000, in which 
there was one liquor-seller. He added : " Violations 
of our liquor law are stimulated by the seaside resorts 
and by the sportsmen who throng our woods. Old 
Orchard, with a population of less than 1,000, has 12 
liquor-sellers ; and Bar Harbour, with a population of 
less than 2,000, has 19. Norcross, a point of departure 
for sportsmen, with but two houses and a railroad 
station and a store, has two liquor-sellers. " 

That the situation in respect of these smaller places 
has not improved since 1897 is evident from the official 
returns of the Inland Eevenue Department, which 
show that out of 192 ''cities, towns, villages and 



STATE PROHIBITION 213 

boroTiglis" having 1,000 inhabitants or more in 
1890, only 79^ were without a liquor-seller in the 
year ending June 30th, 1899. Of these 79 '^no 
licence " places, 

53 had less than 1,500 inhabitants. 



21 „ from 1,500 to 2,500 


J7 


3 „ „ 2,500 „ 3,000 


JJ 


2 „ „ 3,000 „ 3,500 


1) 



79 



On the other hand, more than 70 places of less than 
IflOO inhabitants had one or more liquor-sellers last 
year, including one of 41 inhabitants and another of 
QQ inhabitants. There were, however, more than 300 
places of less than 1,000 inhabitants without a liquor 
licence. 

Failuee in the Towns. 

As far back as 1874 the failure of the prohibitory 
system in the towns and cities had become apparent. 
In a report to the Foreign Office, published in July of 
that year, the British Consul at Portland. Maine, 
wrote : "A long residence of nearly fourteen years in 
this State has given me unusual opportunities for 
studying this question, and I have no hesitation in 
re-affirming that, with the exception of some isolated 

^ Poland (population in 1890, 2,472) and Deer Isle (popii lation 
in 1890, 3,422) are here excluded, owing to alterations in their 
areas since 1890. A part of the former city was cut off in 1893 
and incorporated as Mechanics Falls — a town which had four 
liquor tax-payers in 1898-9 ; and a part of Deer Isle was cut off 
in 1897 and separately incorporated as the town of Stonington, 
where there were three liquor tax-payers in 1898-9. 



214 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

villages^ tlie Maine Proliibition Law lias been a failure 
in the larger towns and cities." It is notewortliy tliat 
in the most recent Consular report, issued nearly 
twenty-five years later, a similar verdict is given. 
Writing in September, 1898, Mr. Vice-Consul Keating 
says : '' It is universally admitted that the Maine 
Liquor Law is certainly not enforced in the cities, but 
I think it may safely be said that throughout the rural 
districts the law has had a wonderfully good effect, and 
whenever the mass of the inhabitants desire its 
enforcement the law is on the statutes to support 
them." 1 

The same broad conclusion was reached by the 
Royal Canadian Commissioners who visited Maine in 
1893. In summarizing their conclusions, they say : — 

" In small communities, or what may be called 
villages and townships, the prohibitory law is unques- 
tionably more effective in preventing the distribution 
of intoxicants. It is natural that such should be the 
case, for where the inhabitants are all known to each 
other, and the business of each is known to his neigh- 
bour, the carrying on of an illicit trade is obviously 
rendered difficult, especially if public sentiment is in 
favour of the law ; but, nevertheless, it would prob- 
ably be a very difficult matter to find any village with 
more than one thousand inhabitants where intoxicants 
could not be purchased by those who were bent on 
obtaining them." 

The same conclusion is suggested by the evidence 
of the late General Neal Dow — the " Father " of the 
Maine prohibitory law. Speaking before the Royal 
Canadian Commission in 1893, he said : — 

" You may well wonder why it is that ever since 

^ For^eign Office Beport {Miscellaneous Series), No. 480, 1898. 



STATE PROHIBITION 215 

1851 we liave been at work trying to put down tlie 
grog shops in the State of Maine. We have succeeded 
to a very large extent, but we have not succeeded 
thoroughly. Somebody may say very properly : 
' "Well, in the rural districts you have done it, and why 
can you not do it in the city of Portland ? ' It is 
because the law, which is sufficient in its stringency 
to do all the work in the rural villages, is not sufficient 
to do it in Portland, and so we go to the legislature, 
and endeavour to obtain such amendments to the law 
as will operate in Portland." 

He added : '^ The liquor traffic can never be put 
down so long as there is any profit remaining in it. 
It is carried on for profit, and not for the fun of 
the thing. If I could drive you around our streets, I 
could show you some very fine houses owned by rum- 
sellers who made their money out of rum." 

" Have these rum-sellers amassed this property since 
the prohibitory law came into force ? " — " Yes." 



PEOHIBITION IN NEW HAMPSHIEE. 

No. of persons Proportion of Urban Popula- 
Population of State per square tion (i.e., in towns of 8,000 

(1890). mile. and upwards) . 

376,530 40 28 per cent. 

The prohibitory law in New Hampshire, passed in 
1855, is very similar to that of Maine, with the 
important exception that in New Hampshire prohibi- 
tion applies only to the sale, and not the mamifacfure, 
of intoxicating liquors. Prior to 1878 the retail sale of 
beer was permitted in the State, but the law has since 
been made absolute against malt liquors also. 

Investigation quickly shows that the prohibitory 



2i6 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

law is as completely ignored in New Hampshire as we 
have seen it to be in Maine. In tlie larger towns 
especially, little or no effort seems to be made to 
enforce tlie law ; in some the liquor traffic is as frankly 
recognised and as openly conducted as in a licence 
city. 

Tlie following figures, wbicli are taken from the last 
Annual Report of the Inland Revenue Department, 
give the number and character of the Federal liquor 
licences issued in the State of New Hampshire in the 
year ending June 30th, 1899 :— 

"Wholesale liquor dealers (spirits) 
Retail „ „ „ 

Brewers .... 
"Wholesale dealers in malt liquors 
Retail „ „ „ 

1,605 

An average of 4 retail liquor licences for every 1,000 of 
the population. 

The actual condition of things in the State will, 
however, be best disclosed by a rapid survey of the 
principal towns. 

Estimated population 
(1899). 

Manchester . , ... 55,000 

The largest city in the State is Manchester, where 
the prohibitory law is not only not enforced, but 
deliberately set aside in favour of what is actually, 
but not technically, a policy of high licence. The 
liquor traffic is not only permitted, but the regulations 
require that it shall be carried on as openly as in 




STATE PROHIBITION 217 

Boston. No window screens or curtains are allowed, 
the saloon-keepers being required by tbe authorities to 
let their bars be plainly visible from the street. 

Number of Saloons. 

The accompanying map (Plate XYI.) shows the 
number and location of the principal saloons in 
Manchester. The particulars are as under : — 

Saloons, '^ on " 52 

Hotels with bars, " on " ... 2 

Eetail drug stores, '' off " ... 33 

Bottling establishments, " on " and ' ' off " 2 

89 

So far as the ordinary saloons are concerned the map 
is practically complete ; but it does not include 
" kitchen bars " and other irregular places, the number 
of which can be estimated from the fact that 155 
persons took out Federal liquor licences in the year 
ending June 30th, 1899. 

The system adopted is to " fine " the saloon-keeper 
once a month.^ In the case of beer saloons the fine is 
fixed at $50, but where spirits also are sold a monthly 
" fine " of $100 is levied. The moneys so received are 
paid into the city treasury. 



^ Although the fines are supposed to be levied montlily, iu 
practice not more than 10 or 11 " fines " per year are exacted 
from the regular saloon-keepers, the average payment amounting 
to $1,000 (£200) a year. 



2i8 THE TEiMPERANCE PROBLEM 



Genekal Eegulations. 

That tlie system is much more than a '' fining " 
system is evident from the regulations which govern 
it. In the first place the traffic, as the accompanying- 
map will show, is almost wholly confined to one section 
(i.e. J the business and working class section) of the 
city. Secondly, no new saloons are allowed to open. 
The only exception to this is where an old saloon has 
been pulled down for building or city improvement 
purposes. In such cases the dispossessed saloon-keeper 
is allowed to open elsewhere. The police do not, how- 
ever, interfere with changes in the proprietorship of 
saloons. A saloon-keeper who wishes to retire from 
business is at perfect liberty to sell his business to 
another man, provided the latter carries it on at the 
same premises. 

The following additional regulations are also 
required to be observed: — 

1. All saloons must close at 10 p.m. on week-days. 

2. No sales are allowed to take place on Sundays. 

3. No saloon-keeper is allowed to admit women or 

children. 

4. Saloons must have only one entrance. 

5. All bars must be plainly visible from the street, 

no window screens, etc., being allowed. 

6. Saloons must have no back or upstairs rooms. 

The importance of the last regulation (6) was 
strongly emphasized by the city marshal, who stated 
that under the former condition of tilings {i.e., prior to 
the adoption of the present system in 1894), a large 
proportion of the saloons in Manchester were furnished 



QT A TH PP riMTUTTTHN 



2IQ 




y those of wliicli the present writers have definite 



PLATE XVI, 
Maji showing the number and location of Liqnor Saloons, etc., 



MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

Estimated Population (1899), 55,000. 



KEY TO MAP. 




STATE PROHIBITION 219 

with back and side rooms, wliicli were largely used for 
immoral purposes. 



Financial Eesults. 

The present system has been in force for about five 
years, and seems to have been originally adopted — at 
least, in part — from a genuine desire to lessen the evils 
that had resulted from a widespread and systematic 
violation of the prohibitory law. Prior to 1894 the 
city seems to have been over-run with illicit liquor 
saloons, of which (including '' kitchen bars ") no fewer 
than 360 are officially said to have existed on January 
1st, 1894. Of these, 150 were kept by women, and 
were largely frequented by women and girls. In 
1893, however, the control of the police was taken out 
of the hands of the mayor and vested in a Board of 
Police Commissioners appointed by the Grovernor. 
The Commissioners entered upon their duties in 
January, 1894. During that year little seems to have 
been done beyond the imposition of a few extra '' fines " 
and the suppression of some of the saloons, but in 1895 
the Commissioners — aided by an exceptionally able 
and resolute city marshal — definitely adopted the 
present system. 

That the system is a startling anomaly in a pro- 
hibition State need not here be urged, but its financial 
success is unquestionable. Since 1894 the "fines" 
from the liquor-sellers have averaged $56,000 (£11,200) 
a year, and have more than met the entire expenses of 
the Police Department, etc. The result, in contrast 
with the former system, can best be seen from the 
following figures : — 



220 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

Total amonnt of 
Year Liquor " Fines." 

1894 (Police Commissioners took 

charge) $13,031-73 

1895 (Present system well established) $62,008-88 

1896 $58,634-39 

1897 $47,815-01 

1898 $55,387-74 

1899 (First six months only) . . $25,514-10 

It needs no argument to show the appeal which such 
figures must make to the mind of the average rate- 
payer. 

Estimated poptilation 
(1899). 

Nashua . . . . . . 24,000 

The second city in the State is [N'ashua, where a 
similar but less successful system is in force. The 
liquor-sellers are '' fined" once a quarter, the '' fines" 
being fixed at the same amount (i.e., $50 for beer 
and $100 for spirits) as in Manchester. The system 
of " regulation " seems to have been started in 1893, 
but it was not definitely adopted in its present form 
until 1895, when the amount received by the city 
in liquor " fines " was nearly doubled (i.e., from 
$7,685-85 to $14,346-31). 

The system, however, is far less efficiently carried 
out in Nashua than in Manchester, and it is certain 
that only a small proportion of those actually selling 
liquor are regularly " fined." 

The accompanying map (Plate XVII.) shows the 
location of 123 places where liquor was being sold in 
September, 1899. The particulars are as follow : — 



\ 



PLATE XVII. 

Map showing the number and location of Liquor Saloons, etc., 



NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

Estimated Population (18!l!l), 24,000. 




""^S^r"^^<i.ttri^^.S^o?'H:^7is,i^x."^t.';;uf :!^- sj °"'- '''°- °' -^-'^ -^ — -'*- ^- < 



liquor saloons, etc., in Nasluia, see p. 231 



STATE PROHIBITION 221 


4 



Saloons, ^'on" 90 



'J 
'' Kitchen bars," etc., ^' on " . . . 16 

Eetail drug stores, '' off". . . .13 

123 

This list does not include all who are selling liquor in 
Nashua, as will be apparent from the fact that in the 
year ending June 30th, 1899, no less than 172 persons 
in the city took out Federal licences for the sale of 
intoxicating liquors, and that in the last report of the 
Police Commissioners 164 persons are returned as 
" keeping spirituous liquor for sale." It includes all, 
however, of which the present writers have actual 
knowledge.^ That the saloons are very numerous is 
evident to the most casual observer. On the evening 
of our arrival in the town (September 8th, 1899), a 
bicycle parade was in progress, and the streets were 
thronged with spectators. A walk through the city 
revealed the fact that the saloons were exceedingly 
busy ; some were crowded, and small groups of men 
were continually passing in and out. It is also 
evident from the police returns that considerable 
difficulty is experienced in securing the closing of the 
saloons on Sunday. The statistics of drunkenness 
will be found in the appendix.^ 

Estimated population 
(1899). 

Concord. . . . . . 18,500 

In Concord, the capital of the State, and the third 

^ In this case also the names and addresses of tlie proprietors 
or managers of the places shown on the map are in the 
possession of the present writers. 

- See p. 704. 



222 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

largest city, the liquor traffic has, apparently, never 
been recognised by the authorities in the same open 
and undisguised manner as in Manchester and other 
cities. Until recently it has nevertheless to a large 
extent been officially " accepted." In 1899, however, 
a change in the city government was followed by a 
change of policy in relation to the liquor traffic. The 
new mayor — a strong prohibitionist — had formerly 
served as county solicitor, and had thereby gained 
considerable knowledge of the systematic violation of 
the prohibitory law in Concord. Immediately upon 
assuming office he gave notice to all the liquor-sellers 
in the city (including hotels and drug stores) of his 
intention to enforce the law, and instructed them to 
cease selling. 

His intention so to act was formally announced in 
his inaugural address to the city council on January 
24th, 1899, in the course of which he said : " I find 
that it has been customary for former mayors to make 
particular mention of the prohibitory law. It has 
been referred to in different ways, but I find no 
instance where an incoming mayor has recommended 
its enforcement. The subject seems to have been 
passed over lightly, and apparently with fear. I am 
at a loss to understand why officials, sworn to enforce 
the laws of the State and city, and whose duty it is to 
enforce the same, should permit the open and notorious 
violation of this law. . . . Police officers, who are 
ready and willing to enforce all other criminal statutes, 
neglect the enforcement of this statute. The number 
of arrests for drunkenness has increased steadily for 
the last ten years. In the year just closed, the number 
of arrests for that cause exceeds the number for any 
previous year. ... I shall require the_city 



STATE PROHIBITION 223 

marshal, and the police officers under him, to prosecute 
all violations of this law as faithfully and impartially 
as they prosecute the violations of any other criminal 
statute." The result of his action, so far as we were 
able to observe it, had been to stop the open sale of 
liquor, and especially to stop the sale of beer ; but it 
is absolutely certain that at the time of our visit 
(September, 1899) a considerable sale of spirits was 
still going on. Both the police and the city officials 
admitted this, and the fact was also notorious in the 
neighbouring towns. The hotel at which we stayed 
had a regularly appointed bar downstairs at which all 
kinds of liquor were sold, and the same condition of 
things obtained in the other hotels. It was also stated 
by a leading city official that many of the so-called 
" lunch " rooms, etc., where sales had formerly been 
made, were still supplying liquor, and from the number 
of men who were seen constantly passing in and out of 
some of the places referred to this was not unlikely. 
The police officials, when questioned, stated that the 
effect of the mayor's action had been to stop the sale 
of beer, but that it had not stopped the sale of spirits. 
These being much more portable were easily sold, and 
the sales could not be prevented. A further result 
had been an increase in the number of ^' kitchen 
bars " and in the amount of " pocket peddling." ^ 

The inland revenue returns show that 36 persons in 
Concord took out Federal liquor licences in the year 
ending June 30th, 1899. The police statistics are 
given in the Appendix.^ 

^ " Pocket peddling " is a form of sale, common''in times of 
enforcement, where a supply of spirits is carried about on tlie 
person and retailed at the corners of streets, or in lanes and in 
alleys, to whomsoever may be willing to purchase. 

2 See p. 705. 



224 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

Population 
(1890). 

Dover . . . . . . 12,790 

The fourth largest city is Dover, and here also the 
traffic is ''regulated" by fine. The extent of the 
traffic can be gathered from the fact that in the year 
ending June 30th, 1899, no fewer than 120 persons in 
the city — or 1 to about 115 persons of the population — 
took out Federal licences for the sale of intoxicating 
liquor. As in other towns, the chief effort of the police 
is directed towards securing the suppression of Sunday 
sales. 

Estimated population 
(1899). 

Portsmouth 12,000 

In Portsmouth — a busy shipping and brewing 
centre — absolutely no attempt is made to enforce the 
prohibitory law. On entering the town, the visitor is 
everywhere met by the signs and advertisements of 
the liquor saloons, while (as in Manchester) liquor 
advertisements regularly appear in the local news- 
papers. Bottles of liquor are also freely displayed in 
the saloon windows. The traffic, in short, is as open 
as in any licence town. 

There are, according to the city marshal, 83 places 
in the city at which liquor is freely sold.^ No fines 
are imposed, except in cases of disorderly manage- 
ment, the effort of the authorities being restricted to 
effective regulation and control. The saloons, which 
are allowed to open at 5.30 a.m.. are required to close 

^ This figure closely approximates to the returns of the 
Inland Eevenue Department, which show that in the year end- 
ing June 30th, 1899, ninety-four persons in Portsmouth took out 
Federal liquor licences. 



STATE PROHIBITION 



225 



at 11 p.m. on week-days, and to remain closed all day 
on Sundays. So long as they observe these regula- 
tions the saloons are allowed to sell freely. No new 
saloons, however, are permitted to open. 



Towns of from 3,500 to 8,000 inhabitants. 

The foregoing instances deal with all the towns 
in New Hampshire, which, at the last census, had a 
population of 8,000 and upwards. If we carry our 
analysis further still, the evidence continues to point 
to a widespread violation of the prohibitory law. The 
following is a list of towns which, in 1890, had a 
population of from 3,500 to 8,000, together with the 
number of Federal liquor licences in each : — 



Town. 

Keene . . 
Eochester ^ 
Somersworth 
Laconia . 
Claremont 
Exeter 
Franklin . 
Lebanon . 
Berlin . . 



Population 
(1890). 

7,446 


No. of Federal 

Liquor Licences 

(1899). 

28 


7,396 


50 


6,207 


55 


6,143 


31 


5,565 


24 


4,284 


12 


4,085 


15 


3,763 


18 


3,729 


45 



Towns of 1,000 to 3,500 inhabitants. 

The condition of things in the smaller towns is 
summarised in the statement that out of 88 towns 

* In 1899 no appropriation for the support of the police force 
was made in Rochester, reliance being put npon the " fines " 
levied upon the local liquor-dealers. — See Boston Herald, August 
13th, 1899. 

15 



226 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

which, at the last census, had from 1,000 to 3,500 
inhabitants, only seven were without a liquor-seller 
in the year ending June 30th, 1899. Of these, the 
largest had a population of 1,383. The number of 
licences in the 81 towns in which they were issued 
ranged from one, in the case of nine towns, to from 
ten to twenty-four in the case of eighteen towns. 

Finally, 59 places of less than 1,000 inhabitants had 
one or more liquor-sellers in the same year. 

PROHIBITION IN VERMONT. 

Proportion of Urban 
No. of Persons Population {i.e., in towns 

Population (1890). per square mile. of 8,000 inhabitants). 

332,422 . 34 . 8 per cent. 

Prohibition sentiment in Vermont — a distinctively 
rural State — is unquestionably stronger than in either 
Maine or New Hampshire, and throughout a large 
portion of the State the law is well enforced. In the 
so-called '' cities," however, all of which are small (the 
largest having a population of about 18,000 in 1899), 
the law has for years been systematically violated. 
The condition of things in a few of the cities was 
better at the time of our visit than it had been just 
previously, but in all of them the enforcement of the 
law has for years been intermittent and imperfect.^ 

^ The increase in the number of commitments to the House 
of Correction led to the appointment in 1894 of a special joint 
committee of the legislature. In their report to the General 
Assembly under date November 21st, 1894, the committee say : — 
" The question of intoxicating liquor, both as regards its sale 
or how otherwise it may be furnished, and the indulgence of 
appetite therein, is a most intricate one. Here we are, face to 
face with the moral and physical weaknesses of our imperfect 
humanity. Yet, in the interest of this same common humanity, 



STATE PROHIBITION 227 

Estimated population 
(1899). 

Burlington 18,000 

The chief city is Burlington, which was visited in 
the summer of 1899. The city is picturesquely situ- 
ated on the eastern side of Lake Champlain, and 
contains a large number of villa residences, many of 
them belonging to New York families. At the time 
of our visit, liquor was being freely sold at the hotels 
and drug stores in Burlington, as well as in a number 
of so-called ^'kitchen-saloons." "Pocket peddling" 
was also said to be very prevalent, the sheriff admit- 
ting that it was practically impossible to suppress it. 
All but one of the hotels had bars, easily accessible 
from the street, and open to all-comers, while many of 

its safety and well-being, we must look resolutely at the facts. 
We charge : — 

First. The indifference of the people : hence the non or only 
partial enforcement of the laws against selling 
and furnishing. 

Second. The imperfection of the law: hence the evasions and 
non-convictions. 

Third. That hotels and drug stores in many localities defy 
the law, even, in some instances, to the extent of 
open bars, and many more evade it. 

Fourth. That kitchen and pocket bar-rooms are rife, and are 
a fruitful source of evil. 

Fifth. That some town agencies, imder cover of the law, 
sell for revenue. 

Sixth. That express companies, above the law, c'arrj^ de- 
struction to many a door in the homes of the 
State. 

" What can be done under these circumstances ? We would 
increase the penalties for selling and furnishing unlawfully, 
and so change the laws bearing upon the subject, that evasions 
from its action would be impossible; and we would confine 
town agencies to their legitimate business under the law." 



228 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

tlie '^ drug stores " also sold for consumption on tlie 
premises. A noticeable feature of the hotel bar-rooms 
was the large proportion of young men who frequented 
them. The bars were of the ordinary type, and well 
furnished with all kinds of liquor. That at the hotel 
at which we stayed was open on Sunday also, to the 
outside public as well as to guests staying at the hotel. 
The returns of the Inland Revenue Department 
show that ninety persons in Burlington took out 
Federal licences for the sale of intoxicating liquors in 
the year ending June 30th, 1899. 

Population, 1890. 

Rutland 11,760 

The second largest city in the State is Rutland, the 
mayor of which stated that up to a few months pre- 
viously thirty bars had been selling liquor in the city. 
The new prosecuting attorney had, however, largely, 
if not wholly, suppressed these since his assumption of 
office, but ^'pocket peddling " was still very prevalent. 
That form of liquor-selling, he added, could not be 
stamped out in the cities under a prohibitory regime. 
The cities, he continued, if left to themselves, would 
unquestionably vote for ^^ licence," but under the 
existing political situation they were coerced by the 
country districts, the sentiment in which was over- 
whelmingly in favour of prohibition. Similar testi- 
mony was given in other cities. 

The Inland Revenue returns show that thirty-five 
persons in Rutland took out Federal licences for the 
sale of liquor in the year ending June 30th, 1899. 



STATE Pi^OHIBITiON 



2:29 



Towns of from 3,500 to 8,000 inhabitants. 

The following figures give particulars of the Federal 
liquor licences issued in the towns of from 3,500 to 
8,000 inhabitants in the year ending June 30th, 
1899:— 



Town. 

St. Albans . 


Population 
(1890). 

. 7,771 


No. of Federal 

Liquor Licences 

(1898-9). 

. 30 


Brattleboro' 


. . 6,862 


15 


Barre . . . 


. . 6,812 


50 


St. Johnsbury 
Bennington . 
Colchester . 


. . 6,567 

. . 6,391 

. 5,143 


. 49 

38 

1 


Rockingham 


. . 4,579 


2 


Montpelier . 
Hartford . . 


. 4,160 
. 3,740 


23 
3 


"West Rutland . 


. 3,680 


— 



In no case, however, was the traffic so openly and 
flagrant^ conducted at the time of our visit as in 
the towns of Maine and New Hampshire. That the 
sentiment of the '' cities " would endorse prohibition 
if they were free to decide the matter for themselves 
is, nevertheless, exceedingly doubtful. But the oppor- 
tunity to reject it is not likely to be afforded them, 
owing to the fact that an overwhelming proportion of 
the population of the State live in the agricultural 
districts, where sentiment favourable to the law is 
strong.^ 

The returns show that 808 persons in the State took 

* The constitution of the State gives equal representation to 
all " towns " irrespective of their size, so that a " town " of, say 
100 inhabitants would have the same amount of representation 
in the State legislature as Burlington, the largest city. 



230 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

out Federal licences for the sale of intoxicating liquors 
in the year ending June SOtli, 1899 — an average of 
one to every 410 of the population. Of these, one was 
a wholesale dealer in spirits, 555 were retail dealers 
in spirits, 25 wholesale dealers in malt liquors, and 
227 retail dealers in malt liquors. 



PROHIBITION IN KANSAS. 

Proportion of Urban 
No. of Persons Population {i.e., in towns 

Population (1890). per square mile. of 8,000 and upwards). 

1,427,096 . 17 . 12 per cent. 

"We have not space to do more than mention the re- 
maining prohibition States. In Kansas — a prosperous 
central State with an almost exclusively agricultural 
population ^ — a closely similar condition of things 
exists. 

Population (1890). 

Kansas City 38,316 

The principal city of the State (Kansas City) im- 
mediately adjoins the licence city of Kansas City, 
Missouri, and liquor is therefore easily obtainable.^ In 
addition to this a system of monthly " fines " seems 
for years to have been in force in this and in other 
towns.^ The actual condition of things here and 

^ At the last census (1890) only 2 per cent, of the population 
were engaged in manufactures. 

^ The distinction between the two " cities " is hardly more 
than nominal. Kansas City is situate on the line between 
Kansas and Missouri, and the principal part of the city is in 
the State of Missouri. The two parts of the city are, however, 
technically and administratively distinct. The population of 
Kansas City, Missouri, was 132,716 in 1890. 

^ See earlier editions of this volume, pp. 196-199. 



STATE PROHIBITION 231 

elsewliere is clearly described by Mr. Joshua L. Baily, 
President of tlie National Temperance Society of 
America, in a series of articles, based upon personal 
investigations, whicL. lie contributed to tbe American 
Friend in January and February, 1900. Speaking of 
Kansas City, which, as we have shown, is situate on 
the line dividing the two States of Kansas and Mis- 
souri, Mr. Baily says: — "Although I found little 
evidence that the sale of liquors was prohibited on 
one side of the State line any more than on the other, 
I did not on that account conclude . . . that 
prohibition was a failure in Kansas. A city divided 
in twain, and where it is lawful to do on one side of 
a street what it is unlawful to do on the other side, 
presents embarrassing conditions that cannot fairly be 
put in evidence in the present investigation." 

Population (1890). 

Topeka ...... 31,007 

The second largest city is Topeka, the capital of the 
State, and here a much more determined effort would 
seem to have been made to enforce the prohibition 
law than in the other cities of the State. ^ This is 
probably partly due to the existence in the city of a 
" Committee of Two Hundred " citizens who consti- 
tute what is virtually a Law Enforcement League. 
Out of this number, each member of which subscribes 

^ A Special Committee of the State Legislature, appointed in 
1891 to inquire into the working of the prohibitory law, reported 
as follows concerning Topeka : — 

" The authorities of Topeka have made a more determined 
effort than any city of its class. They are expending $15,000 
per annum of the taxpayers' money in excess of all the revenue 
of the police department of the city, and yet the 'joints,' drunk- 
enness and crime have not been banished." 



232 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

to what is called a '' sustaining fund," an executive 
committee is appointed which is charged with the 
duty of aiding the public authorities in the enforce- 
ment of the law. 

Referring to his visit to Topeka in the autumn of 
1899, Mr. Baily says: — "In Topeka, although there 
are many hotels, there are no bars at any of them, 
and no liquors are sold or served to the guests. At 
one of the hotels, however, a clerk told me that if any 
guest requested it, they would send out and get him 
anything he wanted, and send it to his room ; but, 
he added, ' such service is rarely asked.' On ' the 
testimony of some of the best-informed and most 
reliable citizens, I learned that an illicit traffic is 
carried on in many places familiarly known as 
' joints ' ; that there is a good degree of vigilance 
on the part of the police in discovering and sup- 
pressing these places ; that they are frequently raided 
and fined ; but that as further punishment is seldom 
inflicted, it is not uncommon for the same parties to 
start up again and take the risk of another discovery 
and fine." 

Population (1890). 

Wichita 23,853 

The third largest city in Kansas is "Wichita. 
''Here," says Mr. Baily, "the conditions are in many 
respects the very opposite of what I found in Topeka. 
Here every hotel has a bar, most of them open to the 
street, and liquors appear to be sold without any 
attempt at concealment. In the hall of a hotel at 
which I stopped there was a sign with a finger point- 
ing 'To the bar.' In all the business parts of the 
city there are saloons with doors and windows open 



STATE PROHJBITION 233 

to the street, and men to be seen standing before tbe 
bars inside. More than twenty such places I counted 
in a short walk, and was assured that there were 
beyond thirty places, beside at least ten drug stores, 
where liquors were freely sold ; and this in addition to 
the hotels, which were quite numerous. In this par- 
ticular, Wichita is a ' wide-open city.' Perhaps there 
are none more so in the United States. 

" The proprietor of one of the hotels with whom I 
conversed admitted that nothing more than a mock 
effort was made at any time to interfere with the 
sale of liquors or to enforce the law. At stated inter- 
vals (usually once a month) a city officer went round 
and collected from each hotel or saloon such sum as 
might be agreed upon, averaging about $50 per month, 
from each, and so long as this sum was paid they were 
exempt from molestation. The money collected went 
into the city treasury, and it nearly sufficed to pay 
the maintenance of the police and fire departments." 

Population (1890). 

Leavenworth . . . 19,768 

In Leavenworth, the fourth largest city in the 
State, " the conditions," says Mr. Baily, " were much 
the same as I found in Wichita. All the hotels have 
wide-open bars, and there are many saloons beside. 
The sale of liquor is practically unrestrained, and 
drunkenness is said to abound. The authorities collect 
money from the sellers at stated intervals, and these 
payments relieve them from any further penalty. 
The good citizens of Leavenworth, — and there are 
many, — appear to be discouraged, disgusted, and dis- 
heartened ; meantime the open saloon is daily bearing 
its prolific fruitage of depravity and degradation." ^ 

* The American Friend, February 1st, 1900. The oul}- other 



234 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

Success in the Rural Districts. 

But while the prohibitory law is thus openly vio- 
lated in the ''cities" of Kansas, there is much evidence 
to show that it is largely successful in the rural 
districts^ and these include by far the largest propor- 
tion of the population of the State. At the last census 
(1890) only 165,879 persons (a number less than the 
population of Leicester), lived in towns of 8,000 in- 
habitants and upwards, while three-fourths of the entire 
population of the State lived in townships or villages 
of less than IfiOO inhabitants. Its few " cities," how- 
ever, furnish the same evidence of the failure of pro- 
hibition in urban communities as is supplied by other 
prohibition States. 

Mr. Baily sums up the condition of things in the 
State generally in the following words : — 

" The evidence is conclusive that although the pro- 
hibition law is respected and enforced in a large 
proportion of the rural sections of the State, and in 
some of the towns, it is entirely disregarded in 
some other towns ; and in the principal cities, with, 
perhaps, the exception of Topeka, it is openly violated, 
and this in spite of the fact generally claimed, that 
the preponderating public sentiment is in favour of 
the law." 1 

" city " to which Mr. Baily makes reference is Lawrence, the 
population of which was 9,997 at the last census. " Here the 
prohibitory law," says Mr. Baily, " is well observed as to the 
outward appearance, there being no open saloons ; but one of 
the oldest citizens of the State, a resident of Lawrence, said to 
me, ' The law is enforced in a general way, but there is much 
liquor sold clandestinely, and any one who is determined to 
get it has little difficulty in finding it.' " 
^ The American Friend^ February 8th, 1900. 



STATE PROHIBITION 235 

This conclusion is practically identical with that 
reached by the Royal Canadian Commission a few 
years previously. Summing up the results of their 
investigations in Kansas in 1893, the Commissioners 
say :— 

*' It is conceded that drinking has been reduced m 
the country districts^ but evidence, abundant and con- 
clusive, was submitted to this Commission to establish 
the utter failure of the law in the cities." ^ 

The general condition of things in Kansas is indi- 
cated by the fact that in the year ending June 30th, 
1899, no fewer than 2,930 persons in the State took 
out Federal licences for the sale of intoxicating liquors. 
The particulars are as under : — 



Rectifiers .... 
W holesale liquor dealers (spirits) 
Retail „ „ „ 

Brewers 

"Wholesale dealers in malt liquors 
Retail „ „ 


3 
15 

2,581 

2 

75 

254 




2,930 



^ A similar conclusion was reached by a Special Committee 
of the Kansas Legislature in 1891. Summing up the reports 
obtained from the chief " cities," the committee declared : — 
" Your Committee has heard no testimony that induces them 
to believe that the prohibitory law has been enforced in any 
city in the State, through the agency of the Metropolitan police 
or any other machinery of the law." 



236 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



PROHIBITION IN NOETH DAKOTA. 

Proportion of Urban 
No. of Persons Population {i.e., in towns 
Population (1890). per square mile. of 8,000 and upwards.) 

182,719 . 4 . NU. 

The State of North Dakota is so thinly populated 
that it need hardly be considered. In 1890 it had not 
a single " city " with a population exceeding 6,000, and 
only two above 2,500. That liquor-selling is frequent 
is, however, evident from the ofEcial returns, which 
show that in the year ending June 30th, 1899, no 
fewer than 557 persons took out Federal licences for the 
sale of intoxicating liquors. The particulars are as 
under : — 



Eectiiiers 


2 


Wholesale liquor dealers (spirits) . 


1 


Eetail „ „ „ 


460 


"Wholesale dealers in malt liquors . 


15 


Eetail „ ,, „ . 


79 



557 



THE CAUSES OF FAILUEE. 

If we turn from an examination of the working 
results of State prohibition to a consideration of the 
causes that have produced those results, we are met at 
once by certain indisputable facts. The first of these 
is the unquestionable influence which party politics 
play in preventing a continuous and rigorous enforce- 
ment of the law. This influence is everywhere so 
obvious, and has so often been suggested by the fore- 
going evidence, that it need not be more than referred 



STATE PROHIBITION 237 

to here. It is bound, however, to be reckoned with in 
any attempt to estimate the causes of the failure of 
prohibition in the New England States. But it is 
plainly possible to give it undue emphasis, and this 
many of the advocates of prohibition in America have 
certainly done. It is clear that party expediency in 
America, as elsewhere, is not in itself a primary fact, 
but one affected, and ultimately controlled, by the 
currents of popular opinion. Sheriffs and city govern- 
ments, for example, however ardently they might 
desire to conciliate the liquor-sellers and so subserve 
their own political interests, could not possibly do so 
over a long period of years if the popular sentiment in 
favour of prohibition were as strong as it is often re- 
presented to be. It is because public opinion in the 
towns and cities of the States, so far from being united 
in favour of the law, is greatly divided on the ques- 
tion, that enforcement of the law has been so inter- 
mittent and defective. 

It is to be remembered that the experiment of 
prohibition, so far as Maine, at least, is concerned, has 
been attempted under conditions which have been 
quite exceptionally favourable. In the first place, the 
temperance sentiment of the community, prior to the 
enactment of the law, was unusually strong and wide- 
spread ; and, secondly, the law has been almost con- 
tinuously on the statute book for more than fifty 
years, and has had throughout the advantage of 
exceptional administrative arrangements, and the sup- 
port of a legislature more than usually susceptible to the 
pressure of Temperance opinion. If, therefore, in the 
face of these advantages, the law, so far as the towns 
and cities are concerned, has been so persistently violated, 
the explanation can only lie in the fact that popular 



238 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

sentiment, althougli said to be in favour of the law, is 
actively opposed to its enforcement. 

Against this it is, of course, urged that, whenever 
the question has been submitted to a popular vote, the 
decision has been overwhelmingly in favour of the law, 
and that this was notably the case in 1884, when the 
Prohibition Amendment to the Constitution was carried 
by a majority of nearly 47,000 votes out of a total 
poll of 94,594 votes. 1 

The plea at first sight is a strong one, but the 
figures are, nevertheless, far from convincing. Apart, 
for instance, from the fact that the total number of the 
votes cast in favour of the amendment was less than 
one-half of the political vote cast at the same election,^ 
it is unquestionable that the vote in favour of prohibi- 
tion has always been largely governed by party 
political exigencies — the question of prohibition having, 
from stress of political circumstances, become a mere 
"football" in the strife of evenly balanced parties.*^ 
As the Hon. A. D. Andrews, Judge of the Municipal 
Court of Augusta, and himself a prohibitionist, said : 
" Our prohibitory law is run on politics. In some 
counties you ,will find the violators of the law against 
every prosecutor of the law, and in other counties you 
will find the violators of the law always voting for the 
prosecutor of the law." 

^ The actual figures were as follow : — 

For the Amendment . . . 70,783 
Against tlie Amendment . . 23,811 



I 



Majority " For " . 46,972 

^ General Neal Dow, Evidence of the Canadian Commission^ 
vol. v., p. 475. The total political vote cast at the same elec- 
tion was 142, 107. 

^ Se3 Appendix, p. 707. 



STATE PROHIBITION 239 

Mr. E. L. Fanshawe, writing on this point, says : — 
" The prohibition party, though comparatively small, 
is extremely active, and wields an influence dispro- 
portionate to its numerical strength, inasmuch as the 
great political parties are equally enough divided to 
render the support of the prohibitionists a matter of 
great importance to the maintenance of the existing 
Republican majority. Thus the prohibition move- 
ment has received much support from motives of 
political expediency, but I was assured that a large 
number of Republicans are in their own mind strongly 
opposed to it. The party managers, however, tell 
them that in the interest of the party they must vote 
for dt, and they vote accordingly. Prohibition is 
favoured by some who are not total abstainers, but 
who are influenced by a sense of the social evils result- 
ing from the retail liquor trade. The farmers, how- 
ever, are the backbone of the movement." ^ 

That there is a real and sharply drawn distinction 
in the popular mind between the law and its enforce- 
ment cannot be doubted. The evidence on the point 
is convincing, and it is impossible, in the face of it, to 
regard the votes recorded in favour of prohibition as 
an accurate representation of public opinion on the 
question. That the vote of 1884 did represent a large 
body of honest conviction, especially in the rural 
districts, is unquestionable ; but it is equally un- 
questionable that in the larger towns and cities of the 
State the support accorded to the proposal was more 
nominal than sincere, and actuated to a very consider- 
able extent by motives of political expediency. 
,^ Finally, it is clear that, apart altogether from the 

^ Liquor Legislation in the United States and Canada, pp. 
116-117. 



240 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

political complexion of the vote taken in 1884, public 
sentiment in the towns and cities of the State is too 
evenly divided on the question to make adequate 
enforcement of the law possible. Thus, in Portland, 
to take a single instance, 5,035 persons, forming 68 
per cent, of the registered voters of the city, voted in 
1884 on the issue of the Prohibitory Amendment to 
the Constitution. Of these, 2,948, representing 40 per 
cent, of the registered voters of the city, voted in favour 
of the amendment, and 2,087 voted against it.^ A ma- 
jority of 861 considered by itself, and apart from the 
question of abstentions, is undoubtedly a satisfactory 
one, and under ordinary circumstances, and with an or- 
dinary issue, would certainly prove effective. But in 
this case the issue is by no means an ordinary one. 
On the contrary, it is one where reform is admittedly 
hedged about by exceptional and serious difficulties, 
involving, in addition to the ordinary prejudices and 
predispositions which all reforms encounter, certain 
unreasoning considerations of personal liberty, and, 
above all, deep-rooted habits of personal indulgence 
and sordid motives of gain. A successful attempt to 
surmount and conquer these must be overwhelmingly 
supported by public opinion, and this, as the preceding 
figures and evidence show, is certainly not the case 
either in Portland or in any other of the large towns 
in Maine. ^ It is, therefore, hardly matter for wonder 



1 In Bangor, where the law has been flagrantly disregarded, 
only 37 per cent, of the registered voters of the city voted in 
support of the amendment, despite the fact that the nominal 
majority in favour of the amendment was 572. 

^ The following figures, which have been furnished to the 
present writers by the Secretary of the Executive Department 
of the State of Maine, give particulars of the vote on the Con- 



STATE PROHIBITION 



241 



that tlie administration of the law has been inter- 
mittent and defective, and that every attempt at 
rigorous enforcement has ended in speedy failure. 

Effect in DEaRADiNG the Traffic. 

It is, however, sometimes urged that even if the 
prohibitory law has not succeeded in suppressing the 
sale of liquor, it has at least driven the traffic into 
holes and corners and out-of-the-way places, and made 
it a disreputable and criminal traffic. The plea has 
some force in respect of certain districts, but that it 
does not apply to the towns (using the word in the 
English sense) of the prohibition States is clear beyond 
dispute. The illustrations which have been given in 
the preceding pages, and which are typical of a large 
number of saloons visited in the course of the present 
investigations, put the fact beyond the reach of doubt. 
It is strange that the plea should be used, inasmuch 
as temperance sentiment in America (as also in this 
country) insists strongly upon the wisdom of abolish- 
ing all screens and curtains from the windows of 
saloons, so that the bars may be open to full view 
from the street. It is noteworthy in this connection 
that among the recommendations in Lord Peel's report^ 

stitutional Amendment in 1884 in tlie six largest *' cities " in 
Maine :— 



City. 


Population, 1890. 


For. 


Against 


Portland . 


36,425 


2,948 


2,087 


Lewiston . 


21,701 


1,120 


1,485 


Bangor . 


19,103 


1,718 


1,146 


Biddeford 


14,443 


961 


904 


Auburn . 


11,250 


1,225 


264 


Augusta . 


10,527 


926 


534 



16 



242 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

is one requiring that " Licensed houses should be as 
open as possible to supervision both from the outside 
and the inside. They should not be placed in con- 
nection with back courts or yards." A similar recom- 
mendation was contained in the report of a Select 
Committee of the House of Commons as far back as 
1834. 



The " Relative " Character of the Failure. 

Nor does there appear to be greater force in the 
further plea that the failure of the prohibitory law is 
after all only relative, and analogous to the partial 
failure of all laws. No law, it is said, does, as a 
matter of fact, entirely abolish crime ; even the most 
stringent penal laws, it is argued, fail entirely to 
abolish either murders or thefts. The argument is, 
however, unconvincing, inasmuch as it ignores the 
distinction between the partial violation of a law and 
the virtual abrogation of that law by the substitution 
(in practice) of a different system. The position of 
things in the towns of Maine and other States is not 
that prohibition is imperfectly enforced, but that after 
a long period of experiment the authorities have de- 
liberately superseded prohibition by a definite (albeit 
irregular) system of licence. 

Civic Government in America and in the United 
Kingdom. 

It may, however, be further pleaded, and to some 
extent justly, that there is greater respect for law in 
England than is commonly found in the cities of the 
United States, and, therefore, less likelihood of syste- 



STATE PROHIBITION 243 

matic evasion such as has here been described. But it 
is important to point out that the evasion of law has 
taken place, not in Chicago or New York, but in the 
small and otherwise orderly cities of quiet New 
England States where the enforcement of ordinary 
law is not found to be unusually difficult. It is neces- 
sary to keep this clearly in mind when considering 
the breakdown of prohibition in the " cities " of Maine 
and other prohibition States. Politics unquestionably 
play a much greater part in the government of 
American cities generally than is the case in England, 
but it would be a serious mistake to infer from this 
that the ideal of law in a city like Portland is there- 
fore lower than it is in the case of an English city 
of the same size. As a matter of fact, the political 
government of the city seems in no way to affect the 
enforcement of ordinary criminal laws in Portland, 
although it does undoubtedly affect the enforcement 
of the prohibition law. What is the explanation of 
this ? The explanation is simply that in the case of 
ordinary crime public opinion is united in favour 
of enforcement of the laws, and there is therefore no 
body of hostile opinion to which the politicians of 
either party can appeal. In the case of the pro- 
hibition law, however, public opinion is largely 
divided, and there is always a considerable body of 
opinion hostile to the law to which the politician can 
appeal. 

It is true that there is less risk of open and syste- 
matic corruption in our English cities than in the 
principal American towns ; but it is morally certain 
that in the present state of public opinion on the 
question, the danger — which already threatens us ^ — 
* See previous chapter. 



244 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

would become very real. In considering this contin- 
gency, it has always to be remembered that so far our 
public services have never been brought into serious 
conflict with the liquor interest. The struggle in 
England has never become acute. "What, therefore, 
would happen in a struggle involving the very exist- 
ence of the drink traffic can only be imperfectly 
conjectured ; but experience is not wanting to show 
that with a divided public opinion the result would be 
disastrous to the purity of our civic life. As the 
Mayor of Boston, Mass., speaking from practical ex- 
perience of prohibition in that important city, admir- 
ably expressed it: ''In a business involving such 
immense pecuniary interests as does the liquor traffic, 
and in which public sympathy is so largely on the 
side of the dealers, it is obvious that the inducements 
and opportunities which exist for evading or averting 
the operation of a prohibitory law which threatens 
their commercial ruin, must give rise to influences of 
a character to tempt the virtue and try the fidelity of 
police officers, and possessing a power too mighty to 
be persistently resisted by the average moral force of 
humanity." ^ 

It has further to be remembered that even our 
present licensing laws do not secure satisfactory en- 
forcement, and that fact must surely suggest the 
much greater difficulty that would attend the effort 
to enforce a drastic prohibition law. The evidence of 
non-enforcement in the one case, where the restrictions 
are comparatively light, certainly does not encourage 
faith in the practical possibilities of an alternative 
system which vetoes the traffic altogether. 

* Inaugural address, January 4tb, 1874. See British Consular 
Beport (Maine), 1874. 



STATE PROHIBITION 245 

Injuey to Tempekance and Moeals. 

On tlie other hand, there can be little doubt that 
the failure of the prohibitory law has produced in 
many minds an unwise distrust of the efficacy of law, 
and of the power of well-considered public arrange- 
ments to influence national habit. 

So strong, indeed, is this feeling in Maine, that in 
1896, the Eev. S. F. Pearson, President of the Grospel 
Temperance Mission in Portland, and an ardent pro- 
hibitionist, started a movement which had for its aim 
the revival of the old " Washing tonian " Society ^ in 
Maine. Speaking at "Westbrook on December 13th, 
1896, he said: — ''It [i.e., the early "Washingtonian 
movement] was started by six labouring men, all hard 
drinkers, and the first week gave them their first 
great convert, John B. Gough. The work went on. 
Victory followed victory. The drinking habits of the 
nation changed ; 1,500,000 signed the pledge. The 
temperance orders grew out of the movement. Then 
there was the thought, ' The progress of the work is 
too slow. We must prohibit the sale of liquor. The 
law must deal with it.' We got the law. The flag 
of prohibition was flung out from the watch-tower of 
the constitution, and the system was made a part of 
the organic law of the State, and then we said, ' We 
are safe now, — the law will protect us. We shall not 
need to go to the lodge or the temperance meeting 
again. We hardly need even pray now.' What has 
been done? With the law have we been able to 
abolish the saloons? No. Drunkenness is on the 

* The " Washingtonian " movement was a "moral suasion" 
movement which achieved remarkable success in the years 
1840-1842. The Order of the "Sons of Temperance," which 
arose in 1842, was an offspring of the movement. 



246 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

increase, more especially among young men. "We are 
utterly powerless to take tlie saloon away from the 
drinking man. . . . There is no temperance senti- 
ment in Maine to-day. Give the question to the 
people, and unless the rural vote saved the law, Maine 
would be a licence State. With 846 licensed liquor- 
sellers after fifty years of the law, what else have we 
the right to call Maine? "^ 

Another temperance advocate (Captain Blake), who 
was prominently associated with Mr. Pearson in found- 
ing the new Society, speaking in Portland a week 
later (December 20th, 1896), said : — '' For forty years 
here in Maine the army of temperance has been fight- 
ing the entrenched enemy. That army has been met 
by the power of the saloons ; by the power of the men 
who are behind the saloons; by the power of poli- 
ticians, and they have been doomed to failure. It has 
been one long failure. We have never been able to 
close the saloons in Maine. We have never been able 
to keep rum out of Maine. We have never seen the 
moment when here in Maine we could say, ' The 
victory is ours.' It has been one long fight, and no- 
thing but defeat." ^ 

The Reaction aqainst State Prohibition. 

In view of all the facts, it is hardly matter for sur- 
prise that a lurking distrust of State prohibition as a 
practicable scheme of politics is steadily asserting 
itself even in quarters that once were favourable to 
the system, and that recent elections give evidence of 
a growing reaction against the law in several of the 
prohibition States. That there is such a reaction no 

1 Portland Argus, December 14tli, 1896. 
^ Portland Argus, December 21st, 1896. 



STATE PROHIBITION 247 

one wlio lias followed tlie lustory of the experiment 
at all closely can donbt/ and it was repeatedly empha- 
sized by those friendly to the prohibitory law in the 
course of the present investigations. Nor is it pos- 
sible to explain it on any other ground than that of 
the manifest failure of the prohibitory system to 
achieve the results that were previously claimed in its 
behalf. The evidence is conclusive that in no single 
State has the law been satisfactorily enforced in the 
urban centres. On the contrary, its successes have 
always been achieved in sparsely populated rural 
districts where the problem to be dealt with is notor- 
iously simpler and easier of solution. Under any 
circumstances this failure of the system in the towns 
and cities would be important, but its importance is 
increased by the fact that in America, as elsewhere, 
the drift of population is increasingly towards the 
cities.^ 

It is, moreover, morally certain that for generations 
to come this growth of urban districts will continue, 
and that, led on the one hand by a gregarious instinct 
which persists through all ages and civilizations, and 
driven on the other by the force of economic circum- 
stances, an ever-increasing proportion of the people 
will gravitate towards the urban districts, and 
America will tend to become, what England within 
her narrower limits has already become — a network of 
towns and cities, whose borders expand continually 
under the pressure of an irresistible growth. A 
method of reform, therefore, that is applicable only to 

^ See Appendix, p. 713. 

^ The number of cities having a population of 8,000 and up- 
wards increased from 6 in 1790 to 286 in 1880, and to 448 in 
1890. 



248 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

sparsely populated rural districts, and is inapplicable 
to towns and cities, can have but a restricted and 
diminisbing sphere of influence. 

This consideration is especially important in view 
of proposals that are sometimes made for the applica- 
tion of a similar law to England,^ where the distri- 
bution of population presents very much greater 
difficulties. 

The most densely populated prohibition State (i.e., 
New Hampshire) is populated at the rate of 40 persons 
to the square mile, whereas the least densely populated 
English county (i.e., Westmorland) is populated at 
the rate of 84 ^ persons to the square mile. Lan- 
cashire, on the other hand, is populated at the rate of 
1,938^ persons to the square mile, and Middlesex at 
the rate of 2,061,^ while London reaches the almost 
incredible density of 35,998 persons to the square 
mile. The average density for the whole of England 
and Wales is 497 persons per square mile. 

Further, in the whole of the five prohibition States 

^ It is important to note that the proposal in favour of 
national prohibition is not supported to anj^ considerable extent 
hj the influential leaders of the Temperance movement in Eng- 
land, who for the most part freely recognise, what is clear to 
all students of social and political thought, that public opinion 
is too hostile to so sweeping a proposal to give it even a remote 
prospect of success. The immediate policy of the leading Tem- 
perance organizations in this country tends rather in the 
direction of a measure of permissive prohibition based upon 
the principle of local option. 

^ These figures refer to administrative counties, while the 
figures shown in the diagram (Plate XVIII.) refer to what are 
technically known as " ancient counties." The difference is 
chiefly important in the case of Middlesex, which in the one 
case excludes and in the other case includes the administrative 
county of London. 



00 -^ S 

1^ R.-S 




o *^ 

^2: 



2 -o 






IS IJfl D, *^ 

6 o 2 « c 




DIAGRAM 

Density of Population per square mile 
in States, and (B) England and Wales. 



North Dakota 
4 persons to the 



Kansas 

17 persons to the 
square mile 




Maine 
20 persons to 
square mile 



Suffolk etc. 

Averaging 250 persons 
to the square mile 



Vermont 

34 persons to th 



Hampshire etc. 
(see note) 
Averaging4ii persons 
to the square mile 



New Hampshire 

40 persons to the 



Yorkshire etc. 

(see note) 
Averaging 527 persons 
to the square mile 



NOTES. 

(The undermentioned counties are arranged i 
increasing density.' 






Square No. 1 represents Radnor, Montgomery, Me 

Brecknock, Westmorland, and Cardigan. 
Square No 2 represents Rutland, Hereford, Huntingdon 

f ?.""^" !■"' ^''^°'''' Shropshire, Cumberland, Denbigh' 
-s-ii.,...!.., Anglesey, "Witre, Tmfl "Dorset. ' 

"Sre'^d W-'J-err. "^^"•' """^ ^°"'"^'>-' -"■=- 
''" War^i^k, LdTaXt """^=' '^"■' °'^-"S-. 



(see note) 
Averaging 817 pers 
to the square mile 



Durham 

1005 persons to 
square mile 



Lancashire (2080; 

& Surrey (2284) 
Averaging 2138 person 
to the square mile 




Middlesex 
11,490 persons to the 
square mile 



STATE PROHIBITION 



249 



there was not, at the last census, a single city con- 
taining 50,000 or more inhabitants. 

In England and Wales, on the other hand, there 
were, in 1891, no fewer than sixty-two towns and 
cities containing upwards of 50,000 inhabitants. Of 
these : — 



14 contained 50,000 and under 60,000 inhab 



7 




60,000 


70,000 


7 




70,000 


80,000 


6 




80,000 


90,000 


4 




90,000 


, 100,000 


13 




100,000 


200,000 


5 




200,000 


300,000 


2 




300,000 


, 400,000 


1 




400,000 


, 500,000 


2 




500,000 


, 600,000 



tants. 



while one contained over 4,000,000 inhabitants. Or, 
to put it in another way. Taking the whole of the 
five prohibition States, not a single person lived in 
towns containing 50,000 or more inhabitants. In 
England and Wales, on the other hand, no fewer than 
11,872,684 persons, or 4:1 per cent, of the total popula- 
tion, lived in such towns.^ It is therefore impossible 
to suppose that a system which has failed in the 
towns and cities of such sparsely populated States 
could meet the conditions of the more numerous and 
densely crowded urban districts of England. 



^ For example : — 














Persons. 






] 


[nhabitacts 




fii Q 71 A ^^ cy (of the toLal population 
2,618,710 or 9 % |^.^^^ -^ ^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ 


1 50,000 


and 


under 


100,00 


1,771,884 „ 6 % 


J, 




100,000 






200,000 


1,050,763 „ 3i% 






200,000 






300,000 


091,748 „ 2i% 


,j 




300,000 






400,000 


478,113 „ li% 


,, 




400,000 






500,000 


1,023,348 „ 31% 






500,000 






600,000 


4,232,118 „15 % 


a city of 


over 


4,000,000 









CHAPTER IV 

Local Option 

A STUDY of temperance legislation in the United 
States suggests a further question. The history 
of licensing experiments there shows that while the 
system of State prohibition has steadily lost its hold, 
the principle of local option has received wide recogni- 
tion and sanction. It becomes necessary, therefore, to 
inquire what are the results and practical possibilities 
of the alternative system ? 

Local option, in varying forms, is already in success- 
ful operation in the rural districts of an overwhelming 
majorit}" of the American States, including some {e.g.^ 
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Michi- 
gan) that have tried and abandoned State prohibition, 
as well as in the rural districts of Canada, Sweden, and 
Norway. 



Local Option in the United States. 

The United States furnish us with the most exten- 
sive historical data by which to judge the results and 

250 



LOCAL OPTION 251 

possibilities of the system. There the principle of 
local option, as already indicated, has won wide 
acceptance. The recognition given to the principle 
is, however, often far from complete. In some cases 
incorporated towns and cities are expressly excluded 
from its operation, while in others local veto can be 
applied only indirectly through discretionary powers 
vested in the city councils and other popularly elected 
local authorities. In other cases {e.g.^ Maryland, where 
a separate Act has to be passed for every locality that 
desires to adopt the system) the practical application 
of the system is seriously hindered by cumbrous 
methods of procedure. But in a large number of cases 
the method of applying the principle is both simple 
and direct. Thus, of the forty-six States in the Union, 
seventeen have complete local option in the English 
sense, i.e., by direct popular vote applicable to all 
localities ; while in six other States the same principle 
is recognised, but in a limited form, the power of 
direct popular veto being restricted to special localities 
or to the rural districts.^ 

The following statement, which is based upon an 
examination of the most recent laws, shows the full 
extent to which the principle of local option has been 
accepted in America, as well as the method by which 
it is applied. The details of the statement will be 
found illustrated in the accompanying map (Plate 
XIX.) :— 



* The phrase " Local Option " is here used in its ordinary 
English sense as implying a right of popular veto. It does not, of 
course, imply an actual exercise of the right. As a matter of 
fact, some form of licence exists in all the local option States, 
the right of veto being exercised only in certain localities. 



252 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

Class. No. of States. 

I. Local Option by direct popular vote ap- 
plicable to all localities 17 

II. Local Option by direct popular vote ap- 
plicable to special localities or rural dis- 
tricts only 6 

III Indirect Local Option, i.e., throngli dis- 
cretionary powers vested in city 
councils and other popularly elected 
local governing bodies^ 9 

IV. Right of veto by "remonstrance " and by 
provisions requiring consent of legal 
voters, property holders, etc.^ .... 5 

In addition to the above States there are four Terri- 
tories,^ in three of which (Arizona, New Mexico, and 
Oklahoma) the local governing authorities of certain 
districts have discretionary powers of veto. In no 
Territory, however, is there a power of direct popular 
vote. 

This wide acceptance of the principle of local option 
in America is unquestionably significant, and it be- 
comes the more noteworthy in view of the reaction 
against State prohibition which, as we have seen, has 

* This is not essentially different from the powers already 
possessed in Scotland. In some cases {e.g., Washington and 
Utah) the discretionary power of veto is confined to certain 
specified localities. 

^ In the case of Oregon the provision applies to rural districts 
only, and in the case of the District of Columbia to individual 
licences only. 

^ A Territory is a division of the national domain of the 
United States that, by Act of Congress, has been organized 
under a separate Government in the expectation that it, or some 
part of it, will ultimately be admitted into the Union as a 
State, The territories are very thinly peopled. 




KEY TO MAP. 

Fuil local option by direct 
popular vote, applicable 
to all localities 

Local option by popular 
vote, applicable to special 
localities or rural districts 



only. 

Indirect popular control, 
i.e., where control of 
licences is in the hands 
of municipal councils, etc. 

Power of Remonstrance, 
Petition, etc. 



la]) sliowiM- the extent to A\-liieli tlie c/V/A 



PLATJE XIX. 

ptiou exists in the United States, and tlje wnv in wliicli it 




NuiK.—The States kft luuolouied aie ntliei Piolulj 



LOCAL OPTION 253 

steadily asserted itself in recent years. That local 
option has justified itself in the particular areas to 
which it has been applied is, broadly speaking, incon- 
testable. It has stimulated temperance sentiment and 
quickened progressive effort until it has secured the 
total suppression of the liquor saloon over wide areas ; 
while its influence has been almost wholly free from 
those demoralizing effects which have followed the 
attempt to impose compulsory prohibition upon the 
cities of the Prohibition States. Up to the limit of its 
actual achievement, therefore, the experiment of local 
option in America is to be regarded as a decided 
success. 

The practical question, however, from the point of 
view of the present inquiry, is : What is the measure 
of this achievement ? Has prohibition by local option 
succeeded in solving the problem of intemperance 
where State prohibition has admittedly failed to solve 
it, i.e., in the towns'^ 

A careful study of the evidence leaves little doubt 
as to the answer. Local prohibition has succeeded 
precisely where State prohibition has succeeded, namely, 
in rural and thinly peopled districts and in certain small 
towns. Except for certain suburban districts, where 
there is an effective " safety-valve " in the shape of 
neighbouring facilities for the purchase of drink, it is 
broadly true to say that local veto in America has 
only been found operative outside the larger towns and 
cities. 

It is to be regretted that in the discussion of this 
subject hitherto, no serious or systematic attempt has 
been made to ascertain the particular areas to which 
local veto has been applied in America, and much mis- 
conception has consequently arisen in this country as 



254 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

to the character and extent of the experiment. That 
considerable portions of particular States, representing 
in their aggregate populations a large proportion of the 
total population of such States, have been under local 
veto has been well known ; but the size and character 
of the separate localities^ and their value as evidence 
for similar experiments in this country have not been 
sufi&ciently considered. But this, obviously, is a ques- 
tion of first importance from the standpoint of the 
English student. 

The present writers have sought by careful investi- 
gation to ascertain the actual results of local option in 
the whole of the States that have adopted the system. 
The inquiry has been more than usually difficult from 
the fact that detailed information has only hitherto 
been accessible for a few of the Local Option States, 
and the data necessary for the present investigation 
have therefore had to be specially compiled. The 
information included in the following summary is 
necessarily incomplete, but it accurately represents 
the broad facts of the situation as it existed in the 
period covered by the inquiry (i.e., from the summer 
of 1899 to March, 1900), and it is certain that fuller 
information, if such could be procured, would in no 
way affect the conclusions that are suggested by the 
following particulars. As it stands, the statement 
gives a summary of information which has not hither- 
to been accessible to the student of the question, and 
which is not to be found elsewhere. 



LOCAL OPTION 255 



GROUP I. 

Local Option by direct popular vote, applicable to 
all localities (urban and rural) alike. 

We select first the seventeen States in which, full 
local option, as it is understood in England, exists. 
That is, States in which all localities, whether urban 
or rural, have the right of direct popular veto. The 
method of the option is not uniform. In some cases 
the county, and not the town or city, is made the unit, 
whereas in other cases a separate precinct or a ward of 
a city may decide the issue for itself without regard 
to the '' licence" or "no licence" sentiment of the 
surrounding district. In certain States again (e.^., 
Massachusetts), a recurrent vote on the question at 
stated intervals is expressly enjoined by statute, while 
in others it is left to the initiative of a specified pro- 
portion of the qualified voters. In every one of the 
seventeen States, however, the acceptance of the prin- 
ciple of popular veto is explicit and complete. 

I. ARKANSAS 
(Local Option and High Licence) 

No. of Persons 
Population (1890). per Square Mile. 

1,128,179 21 

Distribution of the Population at the last census (1890).* 
90 per cent, lived in towns of less than 1,000 inhabitants. 
4 „ „ „ 1,000 to 5,000 „ 

2 „ „ „ 5,000 „ 10,000 

1 „ „ „ 10,000 „ 25,000 

2 „ „ „ 25,000 „ 50,000 „ 

* The statistics showing the distribution of population in 
this and other States have been specially compiled from the 



256 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

This State is under high licence and local option. 
The law provides for elections in each county on the 
question of " licence " or ''no licence." Municipal 
corporations have also "power to license, regulate, 
tax, or suppress tippling-houses and dramshops." 
There is a further provision that the County Court 
may, upon petition by a majority of the adult in- 
habitants residing within three miles of a church or 
school, make an order prohibiting the sale of liquor 
within three miles thereof. In addition, there are 
msinj special Acts prohibiting the sale of liquors in 
particular localities. 

According to the State Auditor there are at the 
present time 26 "no licence" counties and 49 "licence" 
counties in Arkansas. Many of the latter are, how- 
ever, largely " dry " by township law, so that there 
is probably good ground for the estimate that at 
present nearly one-half of the State is under local 
prohibition. 

But an analysis of the "no licence" areas shows 
that they are purely rural and thinly populated 
districts, and include no town of even moderate size. 



official census returns. The proportion said to be living in 
" towns of less tlian 1,000 inhabitants " has been determined by 
deducting the number returned as living in '' cities, towns, 
villages, and boroughs having 1,000 inhabitants or more in 
1890 " from the total population of the State. In a few cases 
the census enumerators have failed to give a separate return 
for towns, villages, or boroughs included in a minor civil 
division, and some of these may possibly have 1,000 or more 
inhabitants, but these cases are so few as not to affect the 
broad result. The word " town " as applied to places with less 
than 1,000 inhabitants is used throughout this chapter in a 
popular and non-technical sense as denoting an aggregation of 
population. 



LOCAL OPTION 257 

Thus, in tlie whole of the 26 ''no licence " counties 
there were at the last census (1890) only ten ^Howns"^ 
with a population of 1,000 or more inhabitants. 
Of these : — 

5 had 1,000 and under 1,500 inhabitants. 
4 „ 1,500 „ 2,500 „ 

1 i, 2,900 

10 



It is clear, therefore, that in Arkansas the experi- 
ment of prohibition is a purely rural experiment. 
It could hardly be otherwise in view of the fact that 
at the last census only ten per cent, of the entire 
population of the State lived in '' towns " having 
1,000 or more inhabitants. 

2. CONNECTICUT 
(Local Option and Licence) 

No. of Persons 
Population (1890). per Square Mile. 

746,258 150 

Distribution of Population at the last census (1890). 

8| per cent, lived in towns of less than 1,000 inhabitants. 

29 „ ,, „ 1,000 to 5,000 „ 

16 „ „ „ 5,000 „ 10,000 

18^ „ „ „ 10,000 „ 25,000 

10 „ „ „ 25,000 „ 50,000 „ 

18 „ „ 2 towns of 53,000 and 81,000 respectively. 

The '' Maine Law " (State Prohibition) was enacted 
in Connecticut in 1854, but was gradually amended 
until, in 1872, it was finally repealed, and succeeded 

^ I.e., places officially returned as '' cities, towns, villages, 
and boroughs." So throughout. 

17 



258 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

by the present system of local option and licence. 
In 1882, a prohibition amendment was proposed for 
submission to the people, and a similar proposal was 
made in 1887. It was not until 1889, however, that 
the amendment was actually submitted, when it was 
rejected by a majority of 27,595, the numbers being: — 
For prohibition, 22,379; Against^ 49,974. Under the 
existing law, licences are granted by the Boards of 
County Commissioners of the several counties, who 
are themselves elected by the Legislature. Local 
option by direct vote (which is taken at any annual 
town meeting upon the petition of not less than 
twenty-five legal voters) prevails throughout the 
State. Annual licence fee for sale of spirituous liquor, 
$450 in towns of over 3,000 inhabitants, and $250 in 
towns of 3,000 inhabitants or less.^ Licence fee for 
sale of ale, cider, lager beer, and Rhine wine only, 
$200. Grocers' licences ("off") not less than $250. 
The law requires the appointment of town agents 
for the sale of liquors for sacramental, medicinal, 
chemical, and mechanical uses only, in ^'no licence" 
towns ; one such agent being appointed in a town 
of not more than 5,000 inhabitants, and an additional 
agent for each additional 5,000 inhabitants, '' and 
for any fraction exceeding one-half." 

At the present time 90 of the 168 towns in the 
State are under "no licence." These "no licence" 
towns are (to quote the Secretary of State) " mostly 
the smaller ones," and the Secretary of the Connecti- 

* County Commissioners may make exceptions to above 
specified fees in case of keepers of well-establislied and reput- 
able hotels in places of less tban 3,500 inhabitants, but no fee 
may be less than $150. The above fees do not apply to drug- 
gists. 



LOCAL OPTION 



259 



cut Temperance Union states (September 20th, 1899) : 
'• We have no city that stands dry." 

The size of the '• no licence " towns in Connecticut 
is shown in the following statement, which gives the 
populations at the last census (1890) : — 

37 had less than 1,000 inhabitants. 



20 

14 

15 

1 

2 

1 

90 



1,000 and under 1,500 
1,500 „ 2,000 

2,000 „ 3,500 

4,582 
5,500 
7,184 



3. FLORIDA 
(Local Option and High Licence) 

No. of Persons 
Population (1890). per Square Mile. 

391,422 7 

Distribution of Population at the last census (1890). 
77 per cent, lived in towns of less than 1,000 inhabitants. 
10 „ „ „ 1,000 to 5,000 „ 

1 „ „ „ 5,000 „ 10,000 

12 „ „ „ 10,000 „ 25,000 „ 



The Constitution of the State provides for elections 
in each county upon the question of ''no licence." 
Elections may be held not oftener than once in every 
two years, upon the application of one-fourth of the 
registered voters of any count}^ 

A majority of the votes cast in any county or in 
any election district is sufficient to secure prohibition. 
Makers of domestic wines selling in quantities of not 
less than one quart do not require to take out a 
licence. 



26o THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

A section of an Act passed in June, 1899, forbids 
the sale of liquors (except domestic wines) within 
four miles of a school or church in the rural districts. 
This provision does not apply to towns and cities, 
nor to licences issued prior to June, 1899. 

A communication sent by the Governor of the 
State to the Chairman of the Royal Canadian Com- 
mission in 1892 stated that there were then 8 counties 
in which the sale of liquor was prohibited; 11 in 
which, although not prohibited, no licences were 
issued ; and 26 in which licences were granted. The 
Governor added that " the high licence in some of 
the sparsely settled counties operates as a prohibition." 
Later information (February, 1900) forwarded by the 
State President of the Florida Women's Christian 
Temperance Union, gives a list of prohibition towns 
the largest of which had less than 3,000 inhabitants 
at the last census. 

It will be noticed that less than one-fourth of the 
entire population of the State are returned as living 
in "cities, towns, villages, and boroughs" of 1,000 
or more inhabitants. 

4. GEORGIA 

(Local Option, High Licence, and Dispensary 

System) 

No. of Persons 
Population (1890). per Square Mile. 

1,837,353 31 

Distribution of Population at the last census (1890). 
83 per cent, lived in towns of less than 1,000 inhabitants. 
5 „ „ „ 1,000 to 5,000 „ 

2 . „ „ „ 5,000 to 10,000 „ 

2 „ ,, „ 10,000 to 25,000 „ 

4 „ „ „ 25,000 to 50,000 „ 

4 ,, „ „ over 50,000 „ 



LOCAL OPTION 261 

Local proliibition has been brought about in Georgia 
in three distinct ways : — (1) By the operation of a 
general local option law (enacted in 1885), under which 
a direct vote may be taken in any county on the appli- 
cation of one-tenth of the qualified voters ; such elec- 
tions not to be held more frequently than once in two 
years ; (2) by special prohibitory or optional legislation 
affecting particular areas ; and (3) by special corpora- 
tion Acts conferring powers of local self-government 
upon individual municipalities. 

The amount of local legislation on the Statute Book 
can be gathered from the fact that 160 local Acts 
dealing with the liquor traffic were passed between 
1885 and 1893. 

Out of 137 counties in the State no fewer than 100 
are said to be under prohibition. The " no licence " 
counties do not, however, include a single important 
town. 

Taking a list of 22 principal prohibition towns in 
Georgia at the present time, we find that — 

1890. 



9 


had 


less than 1,000 inhabitants 


in 


6 


1) 


1,000 and under 2,000 „ 


jj 


5 


jj 


3,000 „ 3,500 „ 


;? 


1 


j; 


5,500 


11 


1 


)i 


6,398 „ 


n 



22 



Prohibition does not apply to dealers or producers of 
wines manufactured from grapes or berries purchased 
by them or grown on lands owned, leased, or rented by 
them. The alternatives to local veto in Georgia are 
High Licence and the Dispensary System (see chapter 



262 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

VII.), the latter of which originated in the town of 
Athens in August, 1891, and was afterwards adopted 
in South Carolina. 



5. KENTUCKY 
(Local Option and Licence) 

No. of Persons 
Population (1890). per Square Mile. 

1,858,635 46 

Distribution of Population at the last census (1890). 
78 per cent, lived in towns of less than 1,000 inhabitants. 
6 „ „ ,, 1,000 to 5,000 „ 

3 „ „ „ 5,000 to 10,000 „ 

3 „ „ „ 10,000 to 25,000 „ 

2 „ '., „ 25,000 to 50,000 „ 

8 „ „ a town of 161,000 „ 

The law of this State provides for a direct vote to 
be taken in any county, city, town, district or precinct 
upon application, by written petition, of a number of 
legal voters equal to twenty-five per cent, of the votes 
cast at the last preceding general election. Elections 
are not to be held oftener than every three years. The 
law does not apply to manufacturers or wholesale 
dealers selling, in good faith and in the usual course of 
trade, by wholesale in quantities of not less than five 
gallons, not to be drunk on the premises. Prior to the 
establishment of the new State Constitution (provid- 
ing for local option) in 1891, the Legislature had power 
to pass special local laws, limiting and, in some cases, 
prohibiting the liquor traffic ; and many such laws 
were passed affecting only certain localities. No fewer 
than sixty special liquor Acts were passed in 1890 
alone, some of them prohibiting the sale of liquor in a 
particular county or town, or within one, two, or three 
miles of a particular church or school ; others provid- 



LOCAL OPTION 263 

ing for tlie taking of a local option vote ; others 
giving licensing powers to certain municipalities ; and, 
in one case at least, fixing a higli licence fee. In some 
instances the sale by retail, or in quantities less than 
a fixed amount, such as ten gallons, is alone forbidden. 

The Grovernor of the State, writing on May 14th, 
1892, said : ^' An accurate list of the counties coming 
within the provision of such [i.e., prohibition] laws 
cannot be obtained without great trouble, but it is 
estimated that in about one-third [of] the area of the 
State no whisky is sold, except surreptitiously and in 
violation of the law." ^ 

In 1897, Dr. Eucker, of Georgetown, Kentucky, 
undertook an inquiry as to the relative extent of 
"licence" and "no licence" territory in Kentucky, 
but met, as he himself declares, " with not very satis- 
factory results." Forty-one counties made no report ; 
twenty-two were under licence ; thirty were reported 
as " under local option," and twenty-six as " partly 
under local option." " Of the last, the territory 
under local option was to that under licence as three to 
two." 

The rural character of the experiment of prohibi- 
tion in Kentucky is, however, shown by the fact that 
in the whole of the counties mentioned as under 
" local option " there were only nine towns which in 
1890 had more than 1,000 inhabitants, of which four 
had less than 1,500 inhabitants. The largest (ex- 
cluding Paducah, which is a licence city) is "Winchester 
(population, 4,519). Less than one-fourth of the entire 
population of the State are returned as living in 
" towns " having 1,000 or more inhabitants. 

^ Eeport of the Royal Canadian Commisbion (1S96), p. 857. 



264 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

6. LOUISIANA 
(Local Option and Licence) ^ 

No. of Persons 
Population (1890). per Square Mile. 

1,118,587 25 

Distribution of Population at tlie last census (1890). 
72 per cent, lived in towns of less than 1,000 inliabitants. 
4 „ „ „ 1,000 to 5,000 „ 

2 „ „ „ 10,000 to 25,000 „ 

22 „ a town (New Orleans) 242,000 „ 

The local authorities (i.e., the police juries in 
parishes and municipal aiithorities in towns and 
cities) have exclusive power to grant or withhold 
licences within their respective areas as a majority of 
the legal voters of any city, ward of a parish, or town 
may determine by ballot. The law provides that " the 
said ballot shall be taken whenever deemed necessary " 
by the local licensing authorities. The discretionary 
power is thus left with the local authority and not 
with the voters, who cannot of their own initiative 
demand such a vote, but can have it only when ordered 
by the parochial or municipal authorities. The end 
can, however, usually be attained by petition of 
propert37--holders or legal voters addressed to such 
authorities. Prohibition in Louisiana is only in force 
in sparsely populated districts. Out of fourteen 
" parishes " (corresponding to what are called " coun- 
ties" elsewhere) in which the sale of liquor is said^ to 

^ The law provides that : " For every business of bar-room, 
cabaret, coffee-house, cafe, beer saloon, liquor exchange, drink- 
ing saloon, grog-shop, beer-house, beer-garden, or other place 
where anything to be drunk on the premises is sold, directly or 
indirectly," the licence fee shall be based " on the gross annual 
receipts." The fees range from $1,500, where the gross annual 
receipts are $50,000 or more down to a minimum of $100. 

2 Secretary of State, in a letter received in September, 1899. 



LOCAL OPTION 



265 



be prohibited, there are only three towns the population 
of which exceeded 1,000 at the last census. Of these, 
the largest had a population of 1,510. 

It will be noticed that, excluding the licence city of 
New Orleans, oiily six per cent, of the entire population 
of the State are returned as living in ''cities, towns, 
villages, and boroughs " having 1,000 or more in- 
habitants. 

7. MASSACHUSETTS 

(Local Option and High Licence) 

See p. 303 

8. MICHIGAN 
(Local Option and High Licence) ^ 

No. of Persons 
Population (1890). per Square Mile. 

2,093,889 35 

Distribution of Population at the last census (1890). 
59 per cent, lived in towns of less than 1,000 inhabitants. 



11 
6 
8 
3 
3 

10 



,, 1,000 to 5,000 

,, 5,000 to 10,000 

„ 10,000 to 25,000 

„ 25,000 to 50,000 

a town of 60,000 
Detroit, which had 205,000 



The law provides for elections upon the question of 
prohibiting the liquor traf&c to be held not oftener 
than every two years in any county. Such elections 
to be ordered by the county board of supervisors upon 
the filing of a written application signed by not less 
than one-fourth of the qualified electors of the count3^ 

^ The licence fee for retailing spirituous or fermented liquors 
is $500. 



266 THE TESIPERANCE PROBLEM 

Village conncils may pass ordinances to suppress 
saloons. 

In 1887 a prohibitory amendment to tlie constitu- 
tion was submitted to tbe people, and was defeated by 
a majority of 5,645.^ Tbe vote showed conclusively 
that agricultural counties favoured prohibition, while 
the " cities " and lumbering districts were opposed to 
it. The State is said to be divided into '^ licence " and 
"prohibition " communities on this basis. ^ 

The State Superintendent of the Michigan Anti- 
Saloon League, writing under date of October 5th, 
1899, says : " Ours is a Local Option State. We have 
but one county (Vanburen) under local option [i.e., 
prohibition]. We have a number of towns which 
avail themselves of municipal option and refuse to 
license saloons. The towns are very few, however, 
that do so. They may be without licence this year, 
and next the saloon element is on top." 

Vanburen, which is said to be the only county under 
''local option," had only four towns with 1,000 or 
more inhabitants in 1890, of which the largest had 
1,924: inhabitants. 

g. MISSISSIPPI 
(Local Option and High Licence) 

No. of Persons 
Population (1890). per Square Mile. 

1,289,600 28 

Distribution of Population at the last census (1890). 

91 per cent, lived in towns of less than 1,000 inhabitants. 
5 „ „ „ 1,000 to 5,000 „ 

1 „ „ „ 6,000 to 7,000 „ 

3 „ „ „ 10,000 to 13,000 „ 

^ The numbers were : For the amendment, 178,636 ; Against, 
184,281. 
^ Beport of the Eoyal Canadian Commission (1895), p. 403. 



LOCAL OPTION 267 

The law provides for a direct vote to be taken in 
counties npon the written application of one-third of 
the qualified electors. Such elections must not be 
held oftener than every two years. The mayor and 
aldermen of every city, town and village have also 
power to enact ordinances to prohibit and suppress 
saloons, club-rooms, etc. An applicant for a licence 
must produce a petition '' signed by a majority (ex- 
clusive of those who may sign a counter-petition) of 
the qualified voters " of a district or town. No licence 
may, however, be granted in any supervisor's district, 
city, town, or village, in which a majority of the 
qualified voters have petitioned the authorities not to 
grant such a licence. This prohibition is absolute for 
twelve months after such petition is presented. Fines 
of not less than $20, nor more than $150 are ordered to 
be imposed in cases where the interior of the saloon is 
hidden from public view by any screen or other device ; 
or where the business of a dramshop is carried on else- 
where than in the front part of the building. 

The fees for a licence " to sell by retail in any 
quantity " are fixed at " not less than $1,200 if in a 
city, $900 if in a town, or $600 if in a village." 

The Secretary of State, in a letter dated September, 
1899, says : '' The sale of liquor is prohibited in nearly 
every town in the State. Those selling are : — Yicks- 
burg, Warren County ; Nachez, Adams County ; 
Aberdeen, Monroe County ; Fayette, Harriston and 
Rodney, Jefferson County ; Canton, Madison County ; 
Grreenville, Washington County ; and one or two of 
the larger towns on the Gulf Coast, or southern part 
of the State. Mississippi is, in fact, a dry state." 

It is noteworthy that these exceptions include all 
the towns of even moderate size in Mississippi. The 



268 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

absence of large towns is a conspicuous feature of the 
State, there being only ten with a population exceed- 
ing 3jOOO at the last census. 

10. MISSOURI 
(Local Option and High Licence) 

No. of Persons 
Population (1890). per Square Mile. 

2,679,184 39 

Distribution of Population at the last census (1890). 

63 per cent, lived in towns of less tlian 1,000 inhabitants. 



3 
2 
2 
5 
17 



„ 5,000 to 10,000 „ 

„ 10,000 to 25,000 „ 

St. Joseph, population 52,300 
Kansas City, population 132,700 
St. Louis, population 451,770 



Boards of Trustees of villages have power to " li- 
cense, regulate and prohibit dramshops and tippling- 
houses." Elsewhere the regulation and control of the 
traffic is entrusted to the local municipal authorities, 
except in the case of cities of 200,(X)0 inhabitants, 
where the matter is in the hands of a special Excise 
Commissioner appointed by the Governor of the State. 
Licences are issued for six months only. 

A local option law, passed in 1887, provides for 
elections to be held in counties and cities of 2,500 
inhabitants on the petition of one-tenth of the quali- 
fied electors. Whatever the result, no further election 
upon the question can be held for a period of four 
years. 

The Secretary of the Missouri "Women's Christian 
Tem]3erance Union (November 15th, 1899) says : — 
" I regret that I cannot give the information you 
desire about the number of local option [i.e. prohi- 



LOCAL OPTION 269 

bition] counties in Missouri. I am sure there are not 
many ; the law has been set at nought in very many 
counties on account of some small technicality. 
Harrison County has not had a saloon for more than 
thirty years." 

There is, however, only one town (Bethany, popula- 
tion 1,105) in Harrison County which had a population 
of 1,000 in 1890. 

Madison County is also said ^ to be without saloons. 
Here again, however, the populations are very small, 
the largest " town " in the county having a population 
of 917 at the last census. 



II. MONTANA 
(Local Option and High Licence) 

No. of Persons 
Population (1890). per Square Mile. 

132,159 0-91 

Distribution of Population at the last census (1890). 
62 per cent, lived in towns of less than 1,000 inhabitants. 
19 „ „ „ 1,000 to 5,000 „ 

19 „ „ „ 10,000 to 14,000 „ 

The law of 1895 provides that, upon the petition of 
one-third of the qualified voters of any county, an 
election shall be held therein to determine whether 
liquors shall be sold within the limits of said county. 
Such elections cannot be held of tener than once in two 
years. 

This provision, however, appears to be inoperative, 
for the Assistant Attorney-G-eneral of the State, in a 
letter to the present writers, dated February 23rd, 
1900, says : " In this State liquor licences are issued 

^ The American Issue, December, 1899. 



270 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

without submitting the question to a vote of the 
people." 

According to information received from the Secre- 
tary of State (September 23rd, 1899) there are no 
"cities" in Montana in which the sale of liquors is 
prohibited. 

The State is very thinly peopled. The census re- 
turns show that there were only five towns with a 
population of 3,000 and upwards in 1890, and only 
two with a population exceeding 4,000. 



12. NORTH CAROLINA 
(Local Option, Licence, and the Dispensary System) 

No. of Persons 
Population (1890). per Square Mile. 

1,617,947 33 

Distribution of Population at the last census (1890). 
90 per cent, lived in towns of less than 1,(X)0 inhabitants. 
6 „ „ ,, 1,000 to 5,000 „ 

1 „ „ ,', 5,000 to 10,000 „ 

3 „ „ „ 10,000 to 20,000 „ 

The local option law of ^this State provides for a 
direct popular vote to be taken on the first Monday in 
May in any year u.pon petition of one-fourth of the 
qualified voters of any county, town or township in 
their respective counties. There is also prohibition 
by special local Acts. The alternatives to prohibition 
are ordinary licence or the dispensary system (see 
chapter YII., p. 427). Wines made from fruit raised 
in the State may be sold in sealed bottles for "off" 
consumption in any quantity. According to the 
latest official returns there are thirty-six "no licence" 
counties in the State, but they are all sparsely popu- 
lated districts, as will be seen from the fact that thej^ 



LOCAL OPTION 271 

contain only ten towns ^ which in 1890 had 1,000 or 
more inhabitants. 

Of these, five had 1,000 and under 1,500 inhabit- 
ants ; one, 1,700 inhabitants ; one, 1,900 ; two, 2,000 ; 
and one, 4,000 inhabitants. Nine-tenths of the total 
population of the State lived in towns of less than 
1,000 inhabitants in 1890. 



13. RHODE ISLAND 
(Local Option and High Licence) 

No. of Persons 
Population (1895). ^ per Square Mile. 

384,758 308 

Distribution of Population at the last census (1895).^ 
1 per cent, lived in towns of less than 1,000 inhabitants. 

11 „ „ „ 1,000 to 5,000 „ 

12 „ „ „ 5,000 to 10,000 „ 
29 „ „ „ 10,000 to 25,000 „ 

9 „ „ Pawtucket, population 32,577 

38 „ „ Providence, „ 145,472 

Few States in the Union have had a more varied 
experience of stringent licensing regulations than 
Ehode Island. In 1852, a law enjoining State pro- 
hibition was passed, which continued on the Statutes 
until 1863, when it was repealed in'favour of a general 
licence law. Eleven years later (i.e., in 1874) a second 
prohibitory law was passed, but this was repealed in 
the following year, and a system of high licence with 
local option substituted. In 1886, a prohibitory 
amendment to the constitution was adopted by a 
majority of 5,883, but repealed three years later by a 
majority of 18,359 votes in a total poll of 38,271. 

* '^ Cities, towns, villages, and boroughs." 
^ State census. 



272 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

Since 1889 tlie State has been under a system of local 
option and high licence. 

The repeal of the Constitutional Amendment in 1889 
was due to the defective enforcement which the pro- 
hibitory law had received. The non-enforcement of 
the law was thus referred to by Grovernor Davis in his 
message to the Assembly in 1888 : '^ The chief of the 
State police has been diligent in his office, and the law 
he was especially appointed to administer has been 
enforced as far as punitive influence within his control 
can effect it. That the law is not more efficient — and 
it is sadly inefficient — is for want of a sufficient public 
sentiment to enforce it. It is a thankless task to at- 
tempt to enforce a law which has not the hearty moral 
support of the community to sustain it. Laws may 
represent public opinion, but their enforcement is 
dependent almost wholly upon the public will, as 
contra-distinguished from public opinion ; and without 
a will the way will not be found." His successor, 
Governor Tait, in reporting to the Legislature in the 
following year, when the law had been in force two 
and a half years, said : " The operation of the law 
prohibiting the manufacture and sale of intoxicating 
liquors is, as yet, very far from satisfactory." ^ 

The present law has, however, been much more 
successful, and since its passage has, according to a 
State Grovernor, ^' been subject to remarkably little 
criticism." Provision is made for a popular vote to be 
taken at any election of general officers on a requisi- 

^ A Britisk Consular Eeport, in discussing the law in 1888, 
said : " The enforcement of this system is most arduous, and 
there is no doubt but that violation and defiance of this prohibi- 
tion law is carried on to a great extent with impunity." — 
Foreign Office Report (Miscellaneous Series), No. 78, 1888. 



LOCAL OPTION 273 

tion of fifteen per cent, (in cities, ten per cent.) of the 
number of voters taking part in the last two general 
elections. The licensing authorities are the local 
councils in towns, and Boards of Commissioners ap- 
pointed by the Mayor in the cities. Notice of applica- 
tion for a licence must be given, and remonstrants must 
be allowed the opportunity of being heard. A licence 
must not be granted where the owners or occupants of 
the greater part of the land within two hundred feet 
of the place for which a licence is sought, file an 
objection. 

No liquor may be sold to a woman for consumption 
on the premises, nor may liquor be sold to a minor. 
For selling to a woman for consumption on the 
premises, or to a minor, or allowing a woman or a 
minor to loiter on premises where liquor is sold, the 
husband of the woman, or the parent or guardian of 
the minor, may recover $100 in an action of debt for 
each offence. 

According to the official State Manual for 1898-9, 
there are sixteen " no licence " towns and cities (out of 
a total of thirty-eight) in Ehode Island. 

Of these : — 

4 had less than 1,000 inhabitants in 1895.^ 

6 „ 1,000 and under 2,000 

3 „ 2,000 „ 3,000 

1 „ 4,417 

1 „ 5,163 

1 „ 7,636 



16 



^ The year of the last State census. 

18 



274 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



14. SOUTH DAKOTA 
(Local Option and High Licence) 

No. of Persons 
Population (1890). per Square Mile. 

328,808 4 

Distribution of Population at the last census (1890). 
86 per cent, lived in towns of less than 1,000 inhabitants. 
10 „ „ „ 1,000 to 4,000 „ 

3 ,, )> 3- town of 10,177 „ 

Sontli Dakota is another of the States that have 
tried State prohibition and repealed it in favour of 
local option and high licence. The present system was 
established in 1896. In 1898 a Constitutional Amend- 
ment establishing the Dispensary System was adopted, 
but no law giving effect to the vote has so far (March, 
1900) been passed.^ 

The present law provides that the question of 
granting liquor licences may be decided by popular 
vote at the annual municipal election held in any 
township, town, or city upon petition of twenty-five 
legal voters. There are also provisions requiring a 
*' free and unobstructed view " of the interior of the 
saloon from the main street ; the abolition of all 
screens, partitions, etc., and the prohibition of sales to 
minors. 

The State Superintendent of the Anti-Saloon League 
writes (October 6th, 1899) : " Among our 'no licence ' 
towns are Vermillion, population 2,500 ; Canton, 2,000 ; 
Dell Rapids, 500 ; Madison, 3,000 ; Brookings, 2,000 ; 
White, 800 ; Artesion, 600 ; and perhaps 100 other 
towns and villages. There are no saloons in country 
places, so we have probably 800 to 1,000 precincts in 
which saloons are not located." 

' See p. 431. 



LOCAL OPTION 275 

The rural cliaracter of the State is, however, seen in 
the fact that at the last census there was only one 
town with a population exceeding 3,700. 



15. TEXAS 
(Local Option and Licence) 

No. of Persons 
Population (1890). per Square Mile. 

2,235,523 8 

Distribution of Population at the last census (1890). 
79 per cent, lived in towns of less tlian 1,000 inhabitants. 
8 „ „ „ 1,000 to 5,000 „ 

3 „ „ „ 5,000 to 10,000 „ 

4 „ „ „ 10,000 to 25,000 „ 
6 „ „ „ 25,000 to 40,000 „ 

Under the law of this State provision is made for 
elections to be held on the question of " licence " or 
'' no licence " in any city, county, town or district. 
The elections to be held whenever deemed expedient 
by the County Commissioners or whenever demanded 
by two hundred voters in a county, or fifty voters in 
any precinct, town or city. Two years must elapse 
between any two elections in the same county, but 
failure to carry prohibition in a county election does 
not interfere with an election immediately thereafter 
in a subdivision of the county. 

One-half of the populated area of Texas is said to be 
under prohibition. More than one-fifth (i.e., fifty-five 
out of two hundred and fifty) of the organized counties 
of the State are wholly so by local option. 

The prohibition areas are, however, exceedingly 
thinly populated. A list containing " some [i.e., 
eleven] of the prohibition towns," furnished by the 
State President of the Texas W.C.T.U. (January 20th, 
1900) shows six that had a population of 1,000 at the 



276 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

last census, of wliicli the largest (Oak Cliif) had a popu- 
lation of 2,470. Further, of five prohibition counties 
mentioned, only one had a " town " of 1,000 inhabit- 
ants, and this county had but one such town. 

i6. VIRGINIA 
(Local Option and Licence) 

No. of Persons 
Population (1890). per Square Mile. 

1,655,980 41 

Distribution of Population at the last census (1890). 
81 per cent, lived in towns of less tlian 1,000 inhabitants. 

5 ,, „ ,, 1,000 to 5,000 „ 

1 „ „ „ 5,000 to 10,000 „ 

6 „ „ „ 10,000 to 25,000 „ 

2 „ ,, Norfolk, population 34,871. 
5 „ „ Eichmond „ 81,388. 

The law in Virginia provides for a direct popular 
vote in counties, magisterial districts and cities, not 
oftener than once in two years, upon the application 
of one-fourth of the persons voting at the last preceding 
November election. In addition to this local option 
law, numerous special local Acts have been passed 
prohibiting the sale of liquor in various localities. 
The licence fee for an '' ordinary " (i.e., a place where 
liquor can be sold by retail for "on" or "off" con- 
sumption) is $100 in the country or in towns of less 
than 2,000 inhabitants ; and $200 elsewhere. In addi- 
tion to this licence fee a further charge, based on the 
annual rent, or rental value of the house and furniture 
used for the purpose of an "ordinary," is imposed. 
Eight per cent, is charged on the first $1,000 of such 
annual rent or value ; five per cent, on the rent or 
value in excess of $1,000 and under $2,000, and three 
per cent, on the rent or value above $2,000. Many 



LOCAL OPTION 277 

counties and towns have the right to levy local taxes 
in addition to the foregoing. 

Prohibition exists in a large number of the rural 
districts. Out of 429 magisterial districts in the State, 
211 have no saloons. In 111 of these '^ no licence " 
districts the saloon has been voted out under the local 
option law. The ^'no licence" towns are, however, 
exceedingly small, the two largest being Leesburg, 
population (1890) 1,650 ; and Front Eoyal, population 
(1890) 868. 

17. WISCONSIN 
(Local Option and High Licence) 

No. of Persons 
Population (1890). per Square Mile. 

1,686,880 31 

Distribution of Population at the last census (1890). 

60 per cent, lived in towns of less than 1,000 inhabitants. 

11 „ „ „ 1,000 to 5,000 „ 
6 „ „ „ 5,000 „ 10,000 „ 
9 „ „ „ 10,000 ,', 25,000 

2 „ „ Lacrosse, population 25,090. 

12 „ „ Milwaukee, „ 204,468. 

The law in this State provides for a direct popular 
vote in any town, village or city. Provision is also 
made for holding special elections in towns, villages 
and cities not oftener than once in three years, to de- 
termine the amounts that shall be paid for licences 
(i.e., over and above the minimum fixed by statute). 
In towns where the licence fee is heretofore fixed at 
$100, the electors may increase the same to $250, or 
$400, as they may determine ; and in places where it 
is otherwise fixed at $200, they may increase it to 
either $350 or $500. There is no official list of "no 
licence " towns in Wisconsin, but according to infor- 
mation received by the present writers there is, with 
one exception, no town with a population exceeding 



278 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

2,0CX) under proliibition. The single exception is a 
town of 3,000 inhabitants, which adopted " no licence " 
in 1899. 

Conclusion. 

It will thus be seen that so far as the principal group 
of local option States is concerned {i.e., those in which 
the principle of local option may be applied to all 
localities, urban as well as rural), the experiment 
of prohibition is essentially a rural experiment. The 
success of the experiment within the limits in which it 
has been applied is, however, beyond question, and the 
results are of a character to justify confidence in a 
similar experiment applied to like districts in this 
country. At the same time, the experience of the fore- 
going States would seem to indicate that the true sphere 
of prohibition lies in rural and sparsely populated dis- 
tricts rather than in important urban centres. 

GROUP II 

LocarOption by Direct Popular Vote applicable to 
Special Localities or Rural Districts only 

We turn next to the second group of States, namely, 
the six in which a direct popular vote is admitted but 
restricted to certain localities or to rural districts. 

I. ALABAMA 
(Local Option, Licence, and Dispensary System) 

No. of Persons 
Population (1890). per Square Mile. 

1,513,017 29 

Distribution of Population at the last census (1890). 

88 per cent, lived in towns of less tlian 1,000 inhabitants. 

5 „ „ „ 1,000 to 5,000 „ 

2 „ „ „ 5,000 „ 10,000 

5 „ „ 3 towns of 20,000 „ 31,000 „ 



LOCAL OPTION 279 

Tiiere is no general local option law in this State, 
but a number of special local Acts have been passed, 
each of which prohibits the sale of liquor in a large 
number of localities. Numerous other Acts either pro- 
hibit the sale of liquor in single localities or provide 
for elections on the question of prohibition in such 
localities. 

Up to 1890, prohibition laws had been enacted in 
two whole counties, and in parts of thirty-six. In ten 
of the latter, prohibition extended to all portions of the 
county except incorporated towns and " cities." 

At the present time prohibition prevails over a large 
portion of the State, but is confined to the rural districts.^ 
The larger towns all have licence. The State is, how- 
ever, almost exclusively rural. 



2. ILLINOIS 
(Local Option and High Licence) 

No. of Persons 
Population (1890). per Square Mile 

3,826,351 68 

Distribution of Population at the last census (1890). 

49 per cent, lived in towns of less than 1,000 inhabitants. 

11 „ „ „ 1,000 to 5,000 „ 

2 „ „ „ 5,000 to 10,000 „ 

7 „ „ „ 10,000 to 25,000 „ 

2 „ „ „ 25,000 to 50,000 „ 

29 ,, „ Chicago, population 1,099,850. 

^ One-third (i.e., twentj^-two out of sixty-six) of the counties 
are said to be under " no licence," and seventeen have the dis- 
pensary system. Mr. J. 0. Patton, Grand Secretary of the 
Alabama Order of Good Templars, writing in March, 19CX), says 
" We will have an election this year, and efforts will be made 
to extend the Dispensary Law over other counties not now em- 
braced by this law." 



28o THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

The power of direct popular vote in this State is 
confined to the rural districts. The law gives local 
authorities of incorporated cities and villages power to 
"license, regulate and prohibit the liquor traffic." 
The law also enables each county board, as regards so 
much of the county as is not included in an incor- 
porated place, to grant licences on a petition from a 
majority of the voters of the district. The law is thus 
one of local option exercised in the towns by the muni- 
cipalities and in the rural districts by popular vote. 
In the latter case, the option is one to be exercised 
affirmatively, licences not being issuable until the deci- 
sion of the majority has been given in favour of their 
issue. The ordinary licence fee is from $50 to $300, 
and in Chicago, $500. In some of the country towns, 
however, the fee is more than $500. 

There are more than one hundred and forty '' no 
licence " towns in the State, but they are exceedingly 
small. Of one hundred and thirty-six, concern- 
ing which particulars are in the possession of the 
present writers, only twenty-four have a population 
of one thousand or more at the present time. The 
two largest have 3,000 and 5,000 inhabitants respec- 
tively. This list does not include Pullman and Evan- 
ston, which are suburbs of Chicago, and the former 
of which is referred to elsewhere.^ In these cases the 
"safety valve" in immediately adjoining licence dis- 
tricts removes them from the category of ordinary 
" no licence " towns. 

^ See footnote, p. 322. 



LOCAL OPTION 281 

3. MARYLAND 
(Local Option and Licence) 

No. of Persons 
Population (1890). per Square Mile. 

1,042,390. 106 

Distribution of Population at the last census (1890). 
49 per cent, lived in towns of less than 1,000 inhabitants. 
6 ,, „ „ 1,000 to 5,000 „ 

1 „ „ „ 5,000 „ 10,000 

2 „ „ „ 10,000 „ 25,000 

41 ,, „ Baltimore, population 434,439. 

The licence laws of this State are very imperfect. 
The different counties in the State have their own 
separate enactments. Local option laws exist in ten 
(out of twenty-three) counties. Some of the local Acts 
are simply Acts for taxing and regulating the trafHc ; 
others, again, enjoin complete prohibition ; v/hile 
others provide that the issue shall be submitted 
to a popular vote. The Secretary of State, in a letter 
dated February 14th, 1900, says : ''A direct vote is 
sometimes taken in the larger cities, but [is] very 
seldom successful against the selling of liquor." It 
will be noted that forty-one per cent, of the total popu- 
lation of the State live in a single licence city ; while 
forty-nine per cent, live in '' towns " of less than one 
thousand inhabitants. The prohibition towns in the 
ten local option counties are all extremely small, 
there being only fourteen which had one thousand or 
more inhabitants in 1890, and only four which had a 
population of two thousand or more. The largest (Dor- 
chester) had a population of 4,192. 



282 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

4. MINNESOTA 
(Local Option and High Licence) 

No. of Persons 
Population (1890). per Square Mile. 

1,301,826 16 

Distribution of Population at tlie last census (1890). 
61 per cent, lived in towns of less than 1,000 inhabitants. 
8 „ ,, „ 1,000 to 5,000 „ 

3 „ „ „ 5,000 to 10,000 „ 

2 „ „ „ 10,000 to 25,000 „ 

3 ,, „ Duluth, population 33,115. 
10 „ „ St. Paul „ 133,156. 
13 „ „ Minneapolis ,, 164,738. 

This State is under high licence and local option. 
The right of popular vote is, however, restricted to the 
rural districts^ where it may be granted on the petition 
of ten or more legal voters. The city councils of cities 
of not less than 1,000 inhabitants have power to hcense 
and regulate the traffic within their own areas. Else- 
where licences are granted by the County Commis- 
sioners. 

Of forty-six towns which were known to be under 
'^ no licence" in October, 1899, only eight have a popu- 
lation of 1,000 and upwards, and not one exceeds 2,000.^ 
For further information concerning Minnesota, see 
chapter Y., pp. 392-397. 

* The list was furnished by the State Superintendent of the 
Minnesota Anti-Saloon League, and although incomplete, includes 
all the " no licence " towns known to the officials. 



LOCAL OPTION 283 

5. NEW YORK 
(Local Option and High Licence) 

No. of Persons 
Population (1890). per Square Mile. 

5,997,853 126 

Distribution of Population at the census (1890). 
33 per cent, lived in towns of less than 1,000 inhabitants. 

5 „ „ „ 1,000 to 5,000 „ 
4 „ „ „ 5,000 to 10,000 „ 

6 „ „ „ 10,000 to 25,000 „ 

3 „ „ „ 25,000 to 50,000 „ 

4 „ „ 3 cities of 50,000 to 100,000 „ 
45 „ „ 4 cities over 100,000 „ 

Full powers of popular veto are granted in this 
State in all localities outside of cities. The provisions 
of the law are fully described elsewhere,^ and it will 
suffice at this point to summarise the results of the 
local option clause. 

The official returns show that in 1899 there were no 
less than two hundred and sixty-three '^ no licence " 
towns in the State. Of these: — 

54 had less than 1,000 inhabitants in 1890. 
133 „ 1,000 and under 2,000 

3,000 



61 „ 


2,000 


5? 


9 „ 


3,000 


n 


5 „ 


4,000 


5? 


1 (Geneva) had 8,000 


263 







4,000 

5,000 



It will thus be seen that in the State of New York 
also, prohibition is practically confined to small and 
sparsely populated districts. 

' See chapter V., pp. 381-385. 



284 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

6. OHIO 
(Local Option and Licence) 

No. of Persons 
Population (1890). per Square Mile. 

3,672,316 90 

Distribution of Population at tlie last census. 

54 per cent, lived in towns of less than 1,000 inhabitants. 

10 „ „ „ 1,000 to 5,000 

6 „ „ „ 5,000 to 10,000 

5 „ „ „ 10,000 to 25,000 

3 „ „ „ 25,000 to 50,000 

22 „ ,, '„ over 50,000 

The liquor laws of this State afford a curious illus- 
tration of an anomaly created by extreme legislation. 
The State Constitution (adopted in 1851) provides that 
"no licence in the traffic of intoxicating liquors shall 
hereafter be granted in this State ; but the Greneral 
Assembly may, by law, provide against the evils 
resulting therefrom." In 1882, and again in 1883, 
attempts were made to evade the Constitution by Acts 
designed to regulate the traffic, In each case, how- 
ever, the proposed law was declared unconstitu.tional. 
In 1886 the so-called " Dow " law was passed. This 
also was a law to tax the traffic, but was so drawn as 
to avoid the grounds upon which the previous Acts 
were held to be invalid. This law (which is the one 
in force at the present time) fixes the licence tax at 
$250. The law is so framed that the payment required 
is not in the form of a licence fee, nor is the payment 
made a condition precedent to the opening of saloons ; 
but it is a tax imposed on those who are actually 
engaged in the liquor trafHc, on the principle that, as 
the trade causes results which entail expense on the 
State, those engaged in the trade should be taxed to 
meet that expense. 



LOCAL OPTION 285 

Power to prohibit the liquor traffic is given to 
municipal corporations, and local option is also given 
to rural districts {i.e., townships outside of municipal 
corporations) under which a direct vote may be taken 
on the petition of one-fourth of the electors. 

There are said to be 260 '^ no licence " places in 
Ohio, ranging in population from 500 upwards. Ac- 
cording to the Assistant State Superintendent of the 
Anti-Saloon League (October 13th, 1899) " there are 
perhaps one half dozen towns of 3,000 each, and the 
rest of the ^ no licence ' territory is made up of towns 
of perhaps 1,000 on the average. The total popula- 
tion of our ' no licence ' towns is somewhere about 
300,000." The prohibitory provisions of the law do 
not apply to the manufacture and sale of cider, nor to 
the sale of wine manufactured from the pure juice of 
the grape cultivated in the State. 



GROUP III. 

Indirect Popular Control, i.e., where control of the 
traffic is in the hands of municipal councils, etc. 

In the third group (comprising nine States) the 
sanction given to the principle of local option is 
merely indirect, consisting only in discretionary 
powers vested in municipal councils and other popu- 
larly elected local governing bodies. In no case is 
there any recognition of the right of direct popular 
vote. The powers granted are indeed not essentially 
different from those which already exist in Scotland. 
Experience, however, shows that in America they are 
often used to register the will of a particular locality 
in which the question of 'licence" or ''no licence" 



286 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

has been made an issue in tlie election of municipal 
officers. 



I. CALIFORNIA 

(Discretionary Powers and High Licence) 

No. of Persons 
Population (1890). per Square Mile. 

1,208,130 8 

Distribution of Population at the last census. 

46 per cent, lived in towns of less than 1,000 inhabitants. 

11 „ „ „ 1,000 to 5,000 „ 

2 „ „ „ 5,000 to 10,000 „ 

6 „ „ „ 10,000 to 25,000 „ 

10 „ „ 3 towns of 25,000 to 50,000 „ 

25 ,, J, San Francisco, population 298,997. 

In this State the common councils of cities and 
boards of trustees elsewhere have power to license or 
prohibit the traffic. In the smaller towns the licensing 
arrangements are often made an issue at municipal 
elections. High Licence prevails in all the principal 
centres, but prohibition exists in two counties and 
several small towns and districts. 

In December, 1899, the official organ of the Anti- 
Saloon League of California published a list of " fifty- 
six places in the State, small and large," that prohibit 
the saloon. The list, which includes seven Insane 
Asylums and two Old Soldiers' Homes, is given as 
follows : — " Two counties, nine State institutions, 
eleven places by a clause in their deeds, twenty-two 
by ordinance, nine by sanitary district, and three by 
an annual campaign." 

Of thirteen "towns and cities" in the State which 
are returned as under prohibition in 1899, seven had 
less than 1,000 inhabitants in 1890; two, 1,000 and 
under 2,000 inhabitants ; and four, from 3,000 to 5,000 



LOCAL OPTION 287 

inLabitants. Tlie four largest are Pomona, Eiverside, 
Pasadena and Berkeley, all of which have recently 
adopted prohibition. ^ 

The Town Clerk of Berkeley, the largest prohibition 
town (population, 1890, 5,101), in a letter to the pre- 
sent writers, dated February 23rd, 1900, says : ^' Since 
last October (1899) prohibition prevails by ordinance 
of the Board of Trustees within the limits of the 
town. The law has not stopped absolutely the sale 
of liquor, for it goes on illicitly, but under cover of 
secrecy, and there are no open saloons." 

The City Clerk of Pasadena, the second largest 
prohibition city (population, 1890, 4,882), in a letter 
(February 24th, 1900) enclosing the ordinance now in 
force in the town, says : " The effect of these regula- 
tions is the entire abolition of the open saloon and the 
practical control of the sale of liquor as a beverage," 
The ordinance, however, allows the sale of '' vinous or 
malt liquors at any hotel, restaurant, or boarding- 
house, when sold with, and as a part of, a regular 
meal, costing not less than twenty cents [lOd.] exclu- 
sive of the vinous or malt liquors, and sold and con- 
sumed between the hours of 11.30 a.m. and 1.30 p.m., 
or between the hours of 5.30 p.m. and 7.30 p.m. 

The President of the Board of Trustees of Eiverside 
(population, 1890, 4,683), in a letter dated February 
21st, 1900, says : " The City of Eiverside is a prohibi- 
tion town; that is, the City Trustees, in whom the 
power lies, refused to grant a saloon licence. So far 

^ In tke case of the first three, earlier experiments made a 
few years ago led to a return to a modified system of licence. 
See Report of the Royal Canadian Commission (1895), pp. 
390-394. Also British Foreign Office Report (Miscellaneous 
Series), No. 324 (1894). 



288 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

as saloons and other places of like nature it prohibits, 
but we cannot stop the illegal selling by the drug 
stores and restaurants, for the reason that California 
laws do not permit of evidence in court, except that 
which is very hard to get." Wine and beer may be 
sold with meals in hotels containing forty rooms. 

California is a large wine-producing State. Accord- 
ing to the official census reports (1890) there is an 
established home demand for California wine to the 
amount of 1,000,000 gallons a month. 

2. COLORADO 
(Discretionary Powers and High Licence) 

No. of Persons 
Population (1890). per Square Mile. 

412,198 4 

Distribution of Population at the last census (1890). 
48 per cent, lived in towns of less than 1,000 inhabitants. 
11 „ „ „ 1,000 to 5,000 „ 

4 „ „ „ 5,000 to 10,000 „ 

11 „ „ „ 10,000 to 25,000 „ 

26 „ „ Denver, population 106,713. 

In this State city councils and town boards of trus- 
tees have discretionary power to license, regulate, or 
prohibit the liquor traffic . 

The fee for a retail licence must be not less than 
$600 in cities ; $500 in incorporated towns, and $300 
elsewhere. In 1892 an ordinance was passed under 
which applicants for a new licence are called upon to 
accompany their applications by a petition from a 
majority of the owners of frontage property in the 
same block. No licence can be granted for premises 
within five hundred feet of a public school. The same 
ordinance provides that liquor shall not be supplied to 
females, nor may females be permitted to be in saloons 



LOCAL OPTION 



289 



or dram shops for tlie purpose of drinking, or be em- 
ployed in the liquor business. 

Few of the towns appear to have adopted prohibi- 
tion. The following is a complete list of the ''no 
licence " towns in Colorado, as supplied by the State 
Superintendent of the Anti-Saloon League in April, 
1900. The population is in each case that of the 
last census (1890) : — 



Town. 






Population 


Colorado Springs . . . 11,140 


Canon City . 




. 2,825 


Grreeley 






. 2,395 


Fort Collins 






. 2,011 


Longmont . 






. 1,543 


Monte Yista 






780 


Loveland 






698 


Sterling 






540 


Evans . 






306 


Berthoud . 






228 


AVindsor 






173 


Ordway 148 


Fort Lupton 


. 


. 


113 



In two of the above cities {i.e., Colorado Springs, 
the largest '' no licence " city, and Greeley) saloons are 
prohibited by deeds from the original proprietors.^ 
The former (Colorado Springs) is a well-known health 
resort, which has been carefully kept as a residential 
and educational centre. The mayor of the city states 
(April, 1900) that "the drug-stores of the city are 

^ All deeds to property contain a reversionary clause, provid- 
ing that in case liquor is manufactured or sold on the premises 
the property shall revert to the former owner. 

19 



290 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

licensed to sell by the quart, and on physicians' pre- 
scriptions only." Hotels and restaurants also are 
allowed to serve wines and other liquors at meals. 
Colorado City, a small manufacturing centre, lies two 
miles to the north-west, and there saloons are licensed, 
Greeley is purely an agricultural town. 



3. DELAWARE 
(Discretionary Powers and High Licence). 

No. of Peraon3 
Population (1890). per Square Mile. 

168,493 71 

Distribution of Population at the last census (1890). 
51 per cent, lived in towns of less than 1,000 inhabitants. 
12 „ „ „ 1,000 to 4,000 „ 

37 „ Wilmington, population 61,481 ,, 

Licences are granted by the Court of Qeneral Ses- 
sions. Applicants for a licence must be recommended 
by twelve respectable citizens (in Wilmington twenty- 
four), one-half of whom must be freeholders. A 
general prohibitory law, similar to that in Maine, was 
passed in 1855, but repealed two years later. 

Outside of the City of Wilmington the State is 
almost exclusively rural. There were but five towns 
with 2,000 or more inhabitants in 1890, and onl}^ two 
with a population exceeding 3,100. 

The Secretary of State, in a letter dated September 
28th, 1899, says : — '' There are no towns and cities in 
this State in which the sale of intoxicating liquors is 
prohibited." 



LOCAL OPTION 291 

4. NEBRASKA 

(Discretionary Powers and High Licence). 

No. of Persons 
Population (1890). per Square Mile. 

1,058,910 14 

Distribution of Population at tlie last census (1890). 
67 per cent, lived in towns of less than 1,000 inhabitants. 
7 ,, ,, „ 1,000 to 5,000 „ 

4 „ „ „ 5,000 to 10,000 

4 „ ,, „ 10,000 to 25,000 ,, 

5 ,, 5? a town of 55,0(X) ,, 
13 „ ,, Omaha, population 140,452, 

Nebraska is another of the States that have tried 
and abandoned State prohibition. A general prohi- 
bition law was passed in 1855,but repealed three years 
later. The present law, known as the ^' Slocumb " 
law, was passed in 1881, and practically inaugurated 
the system known as High Licence. It fixes the 
licence fee at not less than $500 for saloons in small 
towns, and not less than $1,000 where the population 
exceeds 10,000, together with a bond for $5,000. 

The law further provides " That in granting any 
licence the petition therefor shall be sufHcient if 
signed by thirty of the resident freeholders, or if there 
are less than sixty, a majority of the freeholders of 
the ward or village where the sale of such liquors is 
to take place." 

The licensing authority varies according to the size 
of the city. In cities of the metropolitan class (i.e., 
80,000 inhabitants or more) licences are issued by 
Excise Boards, appointed by the Governor ; ^ in cities 

* The Secretary of State, writing in February, 19(X), stated 
that this rule was then being contested in the Courts. The 



292 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

of the first class (i.e., more tlian 25,000, and less tlian 
80,000 inhabitants) by popularly elected Excise Com- 
missioners ; and by the corporate authorities in all 
other towns. The Secretary of State, in a letter dated 
February 17th, 1900, referring to the Excise Boards 
for cities of the first class, stated that the work of 
these Boards '' in regard to restrictions, or being what 
is called liberal, or, to use a slang phrase of the State, 
' wide open,' depends upon the class of Board elected. 
This is frequently fought out at the election." Refer- 
ring, in the same letter, to the condition of things in 
the smaller towns (i.e., towns of less than 25,000 in- 
habitants), he says : '' The liquor option features of 
the Slocumb law are frequently contested in the 
spring elections, and there will be two classes of 
mayors and two classes of council-men pu.t up, and the 
city election will frequently depend on what is called 
the ^ wet ' and ' dry ' candidates. Should the prohibi- 
tion members gain their point there will be no licence 
granted whatever in that city, and this is true in a 
majority of the small toivns of Nebraska, and is also 
true of several of the towns of 2,500 or 3,000 inhabi- 
tants. There never is a direct vote whether liquor 
licences shall be or shall not be issued ; it depends 
upon the character of the council-men elected." 

It will be noticed that, at the last census, only 0716- 
tMrd of the . population of the State lived in ''cities, 
towns, villages, or boroughs " having 1,000 or more 
inhabitants. 

law requires tliat in such cities control shall be vested exclu- 
sively in the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners, who 
shall receive $400 annually as compensation for such services. 



LOCAL OPTION 293 

5. NEW JERSEY 

(Discretionary Powers and High Licence) 

No. of Persons 
Population (1890). per Square Mile. 

1,444,933 .194 

Distribution of Population at the last census (1890). 
35 per cent, lived in towns of less than 1,000 inhabitants 

8 „ ., ., 1,000 to 5,000 

5 „ „ „ 5,000 to 10,000 

9 ,, „ ,, 10,000 to 25,000 ,, 

6 ,, „ ., 25,000 to 50,000 , 
13 '., ,, 3 towns of 50,000 to 80,000 , 
11 ., „ Jersey City, population 163,003. 
13 .i ., Newark „ 181,830. 

Complete discretionary power in regard to licences is 
vested in city councils and other local authorities. An 
Act of 1892 provides that the governing bodies of all 
towns and cities, except cities of the first class, may 
establish Boards of Excise Commissioners, who shall 
have " sole power " to grant licences within such 
areas. Licence fees are appropriated to the use of the 
localities. 

A local option law, giving the electors of counties 
the right of direct vote, was passed in 1888, but re- 
pealed a year later. 

There are said to be ^^ a few towns of less than 1,000 
inhabitants, and a few villages " under prohibition. 
There are also a few '' no licence " towns with more 
than 1,000 inhabitants, viz.^ Vineland (population, 
4,126) ; Asbury Park (population, 3,761) ; and Ocean 
Grove (population, 2,754). ^ 

* Two other towns (Millville and Bridgeton) are also said to 
have been under " no licence " in 1899, but later information 
(March 22nd, 19(X)) states that the election " fight in the former 
(Millville) is close, and is becoming doubtful. Bridgeton is 
probably going licence this year." 



294 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

6. UTAH 
(Discretionary Powers in Cities Only, and High 
Licence) 

No. of Persons 
Population (1890). per Squar* Mile. 

207,905 3 

Distribution of Population at the last census (1890). 

53 per cent, lived in towns of less than 1,000 inhabitants. 

16 ,, „ „ 1,000 to 5,000 „ 

2 „ ,, ,, 5,000 to 10,000 „ 

7 „ „ „ 10,000 to 25,000 „ 

22 „ ,, Salt Lake City, population 44,843. 

Under the law of this State, County Commissioners 
in tlie counties (i.e., districts outside tlie limits of in- 
corporated cities), and municipal councils in tlie cities, 
have power to license, regulate, and tax the liquor 
traffic. The power of prohibiting the manufacture 
and sale of liquor is confined to the latter. 

There appears to be very little actual prohibition 
in the State. The President of the Utah Women's 
Christian Temperance Union, in a letter dated Janu- 
ary 21st, 1900, says : — '' I regret to report [that] there 
is only one town in Utah that I know of where the 
saloon does not exist, and that is Springville (popu- 
lation 3,168)." 

7. WASHINGTON 
(Discretionary Powers and High Licence) 

No. of Persons 
Population (1890). per Square Mile. 

349,390 ........ 5 

Distribution of Population at the last census (1890). 
56 per cent, lived in towns of less than 1,0(X) inhabitants. 
15 „ „ „ 1,000 to 5,000 „ 

6 ,, „ Spokane, population 19,922. 

11 „ „ Tacoma „ 36,006. 

12 ,, „ Seattle „ 42,837. 



LOCAL OPTION 295 

TKe Board of County Commissioners has exclusive 
power to license or prohibit the sale of liquor in the 
rural districts (i.e., outside the limits of incorporated 
cities, towns, or villages), while in incorporated places 
the power is vested in the mayor and council. The 
licence fee for all localities alike must be not less than 
$300 nor more than $1,000. A general Local Option 
law, applicable to election precincts upon petition of 
15 voters, was enacted in 1885, but subsequently 
annulled as unconstitutional. 

There appears to be little actual prohibition in the 
State. A gentleman who has visited every town of 
any importance stated (March, 1900) that he '' knew 
of but one town of any size in the State which did 
not have a saloon," and that was Grarfield, in eastern 
"Washington. This town had but 317 inhabitants in 
1890. The only other "no licence" area, of which 
particulars are procurable, is the village of Sumner, 
which is said to have " two or three hundred " in- 
habitants. 

The sparseness of the population of the State will be 
seen from the figures given above. 

8. WEST VIRGINIA 
(Discretionary Powers and Licence) 

No. of Persons 
Population (1890). per Square Mile. 

762,794 31 

Distribution of Population at the last census (1890). 

87 per cent, lived in towns of less than 1,0CX) inhabitants. 

4 „ „ ,, 1,0(30 to 5,000 „ 

3 „ „ „ 5,000 to 10,000 „ 
1 ,, „ Huntingdon, population 10,108. 

4 „ „ Wheeling, „ 34,522. 

The licensing of the sale of liquors in this State is 



296 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

in the hands of the County Courts of the several 
counties, except in a few cases, where it is entrusted 
by special charter to the council of the city. The 
County Commissioners, who are popularly elected, 
serve for a term of four years. They are prohibited by 
law from granting a licence within any incorporated 
village, town, or city without the consent of the 
council thereof. The fee for a retail licence is $350. 

There are no "cities " in which the sale of liquor is 
prohibited, but '' a few towns [of] under 3,000 " in- 
habitants are said to have "'no licence." It will be 
seen that only one-tenth of the total population of the 
State lived in " cities, towns, villages, and boroughs " 
having 1,000 or more inhabitants in 1890. 

g. WYOMING 
\ (Discretionary Powers and Licence) 

No. of Persons 
Population (1890). per Square Mile. 

60,705 0-62 

Distribution of Population at the last census (1890). 
51 per cent, lived in towns of less than 1,000 inhabitants. 
19 „ „ „ 1,000 to 5,000 „ 

11 „ „ Laramie, population 6,388. 

19 ,, ,, Cheyenne, population 11,690. 

The local municipal councils in Wyoming have the 
power by ordinance to license, restrain, or prohibit the 
liquor traffic. Five cities and one town have this 
right by special charter. The Secretary of State, in a 
letter dated September 23rd, 1899, says: "I do not 
know of any cities or towns in this State in which the 
sale of intoxicating liquor is prohibited." The popula- 
tion of the State, it will be seen, is exceedingly small, 
and there were only two towns of even moderate size 
{i.e., above 3,500) in 1890. 



LOCAL OPTION 297 

GROUP IV. 

Power of Remonstrance, Petition, etc. 

The only other method by which the principle of 
local option is, directly or indirectly, sanctioned in 
America, is that which, in five States, gives the right 
of "remonstrance " to a specified number of the voters 
or property holders of a " block," ward, town, or other 
district ; or which provides that applicants for a 
licence shall secure the written consent of a specified 
number of qualified electors, residents, etc. This 
option, it is needless to say, is rarely exercised (except 
in respect of individual licences) in important towns, 
but it has the effect of securing the complete prohibi- 
tion of saloons in certain small places and in some 
rural districts. 



1. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 
(High Licence and Petition of "Consent") 

No. of Persons 
Population (1890). per Square Mile. 

230,392 3,840 

The District of Columbia, although here classed as a 
State, consists of one city (Washington) which is ad- 
ministered by three Commissioners appointed by the 
President of the United States. The former county 
and municipal organisations were abandoned in 1874, 
and the District has since been governed as a unit. 

The present licence law constitutes the three Com- 
missioners of the District an excise board for the con- 
sideration and disposal of all applications for a licence, 
such disposal to be final. The licence fee is fixed at 
$400 per annum. An application for a licence must be 



298 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

supported by the written permission of the majority 
of the residents and persons owning real estate on the 
side of the square on which the proposed bar-room is 
to be placed. If the place is at a corner, then the 
majority on both streets must signify their consent. 
No licensed place may exist within four hundred feet 
of any schoolhouse or place of public worship. 

There were 513 liquor saloons {i.e., '' bars ") in 
Washington in 1899, or one to every 560 of the 
estimated population. 



2. INDIANA 

(High Licence and Remonstrance) 

No. of Persons 
Population (1890). per Square Mile. 
2,192,404 60 

Distribution of Population at the last census (1890). 

68 per cent, lived in towns of less than 1,000 inhabitants. 



10 


?j 


„ 1,000 to 


5,000 


)) 


6 


?) 


5,000 to 


10,000 


?> 


6 


J) 


„ 10,000 to 


25,000 


?) 


3 


n 


„ „ 30,000 to 


35,000 


J! 


2 


v 


Evansville, population 


50,756. 




5 


J) 


Indianapolis, population 


105,436. 





Applications for licences in this State must be made 
to the County Commissioners. The law requires that 
'* no devices for amusement or music of any kind or 
character, or partitions of any kind " shall be permitted 
in liquor saloons. The whole of the interior of the 
saloon must be open to full view from the street. No 
liquor must be sold to persons under the age of twenty- 
one, whether for " on " or '' off" consumption, nor may 
such minors be allowed upon the premises. Full dis- 
cretion as to the granting of licences is left to the 



LOCAL OPTION 299 

County Commissioners, except that an application for 
an '' on " licence cannot be sanctioned which has been 
objected to in writing by a majority of the legal voters 
of a township or ward of a city. Further, under the 
Amendment Act of 1895, incorporated cities may ex- 
clude the sale of intoxicating liquors from the suburban 
or residence portion of their areas, and confine the 
places where such sales may be made to the business 
portion of the city. 

There appears to be little attempt at prohibition in 
Indiana. The Secretary of the State branch of the 
Women's Christian Temperance Union writes (January 
17th, 1900) : — ^'' I do not know of any towns in the 
State of Indiana where the sale of intoxicating liquors 
is prohibited. Our laws are all the other way." 



3. IOWA 

("Mulct" Law and "Consent") 

No. of Persons 
Population (1890). per Square Mile. 

1,911,896 ........ 34 

Distribution of Population at the last census (1890). 

72 per cent, lived in towns of less than 1,000 inhabitants. 
12 „ .. „ 1,000 to B,000 



3 „ 

6 „ 

5 „ 

2 „ 



„ 5,000 to 10,000 , 

„ 10,000 to 25,000 , 

„ 25,000 to 40,000 , 

Des Moines, population 50,093. 



The State of Iowa is nominally a Prohibition State, 
but in 1894 a so-called " Mulct " law was passed, which 
taxes the traffic and establishes what is practically a 
system of local option and licence. The first section of 



300 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

the " Mulct " Act imposes a tax of $600 per annum 
upon any real property and the owner thereof within 
which or whereon intoxicating liquors are sold, or 
kept with the intention of being sold. In subsequent 
sections it is provided that, in any city of 5,000 or more 
inhabitants, the tax specified may be paid quarterly in 
advance, and, after a written statement of consent, 
signed by a majority of the voters resident in the said 
city who voted at the last general election, shall have 
been filed with the county auditor, the quarterly pay- 
ment then made is to be a bar to proceedings under 
the statute prohibiting such business. It is further 
provided that the City Council must also, by resolu- 
tion, sanction such sales ; and the written consent of 
all freeholders owning property within fifty feet of 
the premises where liquor i^ to be sold must also be 
secured. No such business to be conducted within 
300 feet of a school or church. In order to bring 
smaller places within the provisions of the Act, it is 
provided that a written statement of consent, signed 
by sixty-five per cent, of the legal voters of a county 
(outside the limits of a city of 5,000 or more inhabi- 
tants) who voted at the last general election, shall be 
sufficient to sanction the trafHc. Under the operation 
of the ''Mulct" law, liquor saloons have been sanc- 
tioned in about one-half (i.e., forty-eight out of ninety- 
nine) of the counties of the State ; and there are one 
or two other counties in which (according to the State 
President of the "W.C.T.U.) liquor "is sold openly 
without legal sanction." 

In the counties under prohibition there are, accord- 
ing to the last census returns, 63 towns with more 
than 1,000 inhabitants. Of these,— 



LOCAL OPTION 301 

37 had 1,000 and under 2,000 inhabitants. 
13 „ 2,000 „ 3,000 

9 „ 3,000 „ 4,000 

2 „ 4,000^ „ 4500 

1 ,, 6,558 inhabitants. 

1 „ 6,674 



63 



4. OREGON 
(High Licence and «^ Consent ") 

No. of Persons 
Population (1890). per Square Mile. 

313,767 3 

Distribution of Population at the last census (1890). 

70 per cent, lived in towns of less than 1,000 inhabitants. 
8 ,, „ „ 1,000 to 5,000 „ 

4 „ ,, „ 5,000 to 10,000 „ 

3 ,, ,, a town of 10,000 ,, 

15 ,, ,, Portland, population 46,385. 

Under the law of this State the requirement of '' con- 
sent" is confined to the rural districts, where an 
applicant for a licence must obtain the signatures of a 
majority of the legal voters in his precinct. In incor- 
porated towns and cities the municipal authorities 
exercise complete control. There appears to be little 
prohibition in Oregon. The Secretary of the W.C.T.U., 
in a letter dated November 16th, 1899, says : " I regret 
to say there are very few [places under prohibition], 
and they are small villages. The following have pro- 
hibition ordinances :— Halsey, Shedd, Newberg (the 
largest), Moro, and, I think, Dayton." 

The largest of these places had a population, at the 
last census, of 514. 



302 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

5. SOUTH CAROLINA 
(Dispensary System and Local Veto) 

No. of Persons 
Population (1890). per Square Mile. 

1,151,149 38 

Distribution of Population at the last census (1890). 
87 per cent, lived in towns of less than 1,000 inhabitants. 
6 „ „ ,, 1,000 to 5,000 „ 

1 „ „ „ 5,000 to 10,000 

1 „ ,, Columbia, population 15,363 

5 „ „ Charleston „ 54,955 

In Soiitli Carolina the choice of the people, as is else- 
where shown, ^ is restricted to two alternatives, 
namely : — (a) the Dispensary System or (&) local pro- 
hibition. Under the option thus allowed, a consider- 
able proportion of the rural population has adopted 
prohibition. The returns show however that in 1899 
there were only nine '' no licence " towns which had a 
population of 1,000 or more at the last census, and the 
largest of these had a population of 2,744. 

For further particulars of this State see chap- 
ter YII. 



TERRITORIES 

Local Option proper does not exist in any of the 
four Territories in the Union. In three of them 
(Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma) the local 
authorities have power " to license, regulate, or pro- 
hibit " the sale of liquor ; but the right of veto would 
seem to be rarely exercised. In Arizona, for example, 
there is only one town (Glendale, population less than 
1,000) under prohibition. In New Mexico, also, there 
is only one " no licence " town, viz., Alamo-Gordo 

^ See pp. 412 and 421. 



LOCAL OPTION 303 

(population 518), while in Oklahoma there does not 
appear to be a single prohibition town.^ 

The remaining territory (Alaska) was under prohibi- 
tion until March, 1899, when it adopted High Licence. 

It thus becomes clear, upon appeal to the facts, that 
the experience of the whole of the States in which the 
principle of local option has been directly or remotely 
recognised, confirms the conclusion presented by the 
experience of the prohibition States, namely, that pro- 
hibition finds its successful sphere in rural and sparsely- 
peopled districts, and not, except under special circum- 
stances, in towns. These rural areas are however so 
extensive, and represent in the aggregate so large a 
proportion of the total population of the States in 
which they are found, that any experiment that is 
successful in them forms a considerable contribution to 
the solution of the general problem as it exists in the 
United States. 

MASSACHUSETTS 
(Local Option and High Licence) 

No. of Persons 
Population (1895) .2 per Square Mile. 

2,500,183 301 

Distribution of Population at the last census'(1895).2 
2 per cent, lived in towns of less than 1,000 inliabitants. 
16 ,. „ „ 1,000 to 5,000 

13 ,, „ „ 5,000 to 10,000 

12 „ ,, „ 10,000 to 25,000 

12 , „ ,, 25,000 to 50,000 

25 „ „ 9 towns of 50,000 to 100,000 

20 „ „ Boston, population 496,920. 



^ The President of the Oklahoma W.C.T.U., in a letter dated 
January 23rd, 1900, says : " "We hare no prohibition town to mj^ 
knowledge." 2 state census. 



304 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

The State of Massachusetts, which has still to be 
consideredj appears at first sight to present a striking 
exception to the rule stated above, but even here, as 
we proceed to show, the same broad conclusion applies, 
the apparent exceptions being fully accounted for by 
the presence of a new factor {i.e., what in this volume 
is called a " safety-valve,") in the shape of adjoining 
licence areas. 

The historj^ of temperance legislation in Massa- 
chusetts has many features of general interest to the 
student, as well a-s some of special significance to the 
practical reformer. In the year 1862 a prohibitory 
law, which was practically a copy of the original 
Maine law, was passed by the State legislature. In 
1855 a new prohibitory law was enacted, changing the 
penalties imposed by the law of 1852, and elaborating 
that Act. This law was repealed in 1868, and restored 
in 1869. In 1865 a State police force was created for 
the purpose of sup]3ressing liquor shops, gambling 
places, and houses of ill-fame. In 1870 an amendment 
to the prohibitory law was made, authorizing any one 
to manufacture and sell ale, porter, strong beer, and 
lager beer. In 1873 this amendment was repealed. 
In the fall election of 1874 the popular vote appears to 
have been against the prohibitory law and the main- 
tenance of the special constabulary force, and both 
were abandoned, and a licence system was again re- 
sorted to. 

This final abandonment of State prohibition in 
Massachusetts, foreshadowed as it had been by the pro- 
ceedings and legislation of the immediately preceding 
years, is chiefly of interest to the English student for 
the grounds upon which it was based. Experience 



LOCAL OPTION 305 

had shown that while the law was cajoable of enforce- 
ment in the rural districts and small towns, it was 
everywhere disregarded or evaded in the larger urban 
centres, and this had led to a condition of things that 
was fraught with serious menace to true progress. 

In 1867 a special joint-committee of the Senate and 
House of Representatives had been appointed to in- 
quire into the working of prohibition, and a majority 
of the committee had, in their report, strongly con- 
demned the prohibitory law. They declared that, 
^' Upon careful inquiry into the present condition of 
things throughout the State, it would probably appear 
that in the small towns there is hardly any liquor 
sold, but that in all the large cities and towns it can 
be had without difficulty ; that in most of them the 
sales are open, and that whenever, by peculiarly 
vigorous efforts, the open places are closed, large num- 
bers of secret places are established, and the cases of 
drunkenness largely increased." 

Seven years later {i.e., in 1874) the mayor of Boston, 
in the course of his inaugural address to the city 
council, stated that '' The great problem how to remedy 
or diminish the immense evils that flow from the in- 
temperate use of intoxicating liquors is still unsolved. 
All experiments to this end have failed. For many 
years we have had on trial a system of legislation pro- 
hibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors, and we have 
had, in pursuance of it, constant prosecutions, seizures, 
fines, and imprisonments, but up to this hour no ap- 
preciable decrease in the sale and consumption of the 
prohibited commodities. No different result could, I 
think, have been reasonably anticipated, considering 
that the prohibitory legislation is manifestly opposed 
to public sentiment in the larger cities and towns of 

20 



3o6 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

Massacliusetts. It is disapproved, not only by those 
whose appetite or pecuniary interest is their supreme 
law, but by a great number of sober, thoughtful, 
philanthropic citizens, who have at heart the highest 
moral welfare of the community, and who believe that 
such legislation is impracticable in its nature, un- 
sound in principle, and, therefore, worse than ineffec- 
tual. This legislation may be enforced, perhaps, in 
some of the rural districts with a sparse population, 
where it is in accordance with public sentiment ; but 
it fails, and must fail, in the large cities, on which it 
is imposed, as it were, from outside by the representa- 
tives of the small towns." ^ 

It will thus be seen that the experience of Massa- 
chusetts in regard to State prohibition has been pre- 
cisely similar to that of Maine and other prohibition 
States.^ 

In 1881, the licence system was supplemented by a 
local option enactment, which provides that the alder- 
men and selectmen of cities and towns shall insert in 
the warrant for the annual municipal election or town 
meeting an article providing for a vote upon the 
question, " Shall licences be granted for the sale of in- 
toxicating liquors in this city (or town) ? " The vote 
is to be by separate ballot, and the ballot must be 
" yes " or " no." Every male citizen who is twenty- 
one years of age and who is duly registered may vote. 
A bare majority of the votes cast decides the question 

^ Extract from the Inaugural Address of the Mayor of 
Boston (Mass.), January 4t]i, 1874. 

2 In 1889, an Amendment to the Constitution, prohibiting the 
manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors, was submitted to 
the people, but was rejected by a majority of 45,820 votes, the 
figures being :— For the Amendment, 85,242 ; Against, 131,062. 



LOCAL OPTION 307 

either way.^ This arrangement of an annual vote 
may have certain advantages in stimulating public 
opinion on the question, but that it has very distinct 
disadvantages in provoking repeated changes of policy 
in many towns is certain. The history of local option 
in many towns and cities in the State is chiefly note- 
worthy for the fluctuations of policy which it reveals, 
and this precariousness and absence of continuity is a 
serious detraction from the practical value of the ex- 
periment. In some cases it makes the experiment 
almost useless for comparative purposes. 

In 1888, a statutory limit was fixed to the number 
of licences which may be granted in a particular town. 
It was enacted that the number of places licensed for 
the sale of liquor shall not exceed one for each one 
thousand of the population, as ascertained by the last 
preceding national or State census, except that in the 
City of Boston one place may be licensed for each five 
hundred of the population.^ A later law (passed in 
Ma5^, 1899) limits the possible number of licences to 
be granted in Boston to a maximum of one thousand, 
irrespective of all future growth in population. The 
actual number of licences issued in Boston in 1899 
was nine hundred and ninety-three.^ 

^ The vote does not apply to licences of the sixth class (2'.^., 
druggists). Cities vote in December, and towns in the spring, 
but the vote in each case becomes operative on May 1st. 

' In towns having an increased population during summer 
months, an enumeration of the population may be made by the 
Bureau of Statistics of Labour in June, and the selectmen may 
grant one special liquor licence for each five hundred of the 
temporary resident population, such extra licences to be in force 
from July 1st to October 1st next following. This does not 
apply in towns of over 5,000 permanent residents. 

^ The revenue derived from liquor licences in Boston amounts 
to $1,500,000 annually. 



3o8 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

By a further section of tlie Act passed in 1888, a 
system of High. Licence was adopted. Licences are 
divided into six classes, and the fees are as follow : — 

First Class : To sell liquor of any kind, to be drunk 

on the premises, not less than $1,000.^ 
Second Class: To sell malt liquors, cider, and light 

wines, " on," not less than $250. 
Thied Class: To sell malt liquors and cider, "on," 

not less than $250. 
FouETH Class: To sell liquors of any kind, for "off" 

consumption, not less than $300. 
Fifth Class: To sell malt liquors, cider, and light 

wines, " off," not less than $150. 
Sixth Class: To druggists and apothecaries to sell 

hquors of any kind for medicinal, mechanical, and 

chemical purposes only, $1. 

One-fourth of the revenue from licence fees is paid 
to the State, and the balance is retained by the city 
or town. 

The principal conditions attached to licences are :— 

(1) No sales to be made between 11 p.m. and 6 

a.m., nor on Sundays (except to guests in 
hotels). 

(2) Saloons to be closed on election days^ and 

public holidays. 

(3) Sales must not be made to minors, nor to a 

person known to have been intoxicated with- 
in six months ; nor to any one known to 

^ As a matter of fact, a licence fee of $1,800 is often charged. 
^ Does not apply in case of duly registered guests of an inn 
(or hotel). 



LOCAL OPTION 309 

have been supported by public cliarity within 
twelve months. 

(4) No person under the age of eighteen is to be 

employed in the sale of liquor. 

(5) Sales must not be made to persons who use 

intoxicating liquor to excess, after written 
notice from husband, wife, parent, child, 
guardian, or employer of such persons. 

(6) All saloons must be open to full view from the 

street ; no screens or other obstructions are 
allowed. 

(7) No licences of the first, second, or third classes 

to be issued in any place on the same street 
within four hundred feet of a public school. 

(8) If owners of property within twenty-five feet 

of premises for which a licence is sought 
object, the licence cannot be granted. 

The licensing authority is in towns the Board of Select- 
men ; in cities (except in Boston and Fall River) a 
Board of Licensing Commissioners appointed by the 
Mayor. In Boston and Fall River the power is en- 
trusted to the Police Commissioners, who are appointed 
by the Governor of the State. 

Extent of Local Prohibition in Massachusetts. 

(a) "Tov/ns" {i.e., Townships). 

The chief point of interest in the present inquiry 
is, however, the extent to which the local option pro- 
visions of the law have been used to prohibit the 
traffic, and here we are met by useful and striking 
facts. In Massachusetts the counties are divided for 
administrative purposes into ''towns" and ''cities." 



310 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

The former are properly ^^ townships " {i.e., groups of 
villages), governed by a Board of Selectmen; while 
the latter are municipal incorporations governed by a 
mayor and council. 

Now of the three hundred and twenty towns, or 
townships, in Massachusetts (representing thirty-five 
per cent, of the total population of the State) no fewer 
than two hundred and fifty-nine are under ''no 
licence." ^ This number includes nine which voted 
" licence " but in which no licences were issued by the 
Board of Selectmen. These "no licence " towns are, 
however, for the most part extremely small ; two-thirds 
(sixty-three per cent.) of the total number having less 
than two thousand inhabitants in 1895.^ 

The actual size of the towns is shown in the follow- 
ing table : — 

89 have less than . 1,000 inhabitants. 
75 ,, 1,000 and under 2,000 
31 [, 2,000 „ 3,000 



33 „ 3,000 „ 5,000 

21 „ 5,000 „ 8,000 

6 „ 8,000 „ 10,000 

3 „ 10,000 „ 12,000 

1 

259 



1 has 16,164 .... ,| 



The sparseness of population in these "towns" is 
really much greater than is suggested above, for, as 
we have already indicated, although technically styled 
towns, they are strictly " townships," covering often a 
large area and including several separate villages. 

^ As represented by the vote taken in March, 1899. 
^ The date of the last State census. 



LOCAL OPTION 311 

Thus, of the ten largest '• no licence " towns included 
in the above list, one has two villages ; two have four 
villages ; three have six villages ; one has eight vil- 
lages; two have nine villages; and the other is a 
suburb of Boston. In respect of area, also, the figures 
are suggestive. The three smallest cover five, seven, 
and eight square miles respectively ; four others from 
thirteen to twenty square miles ; and the remaining 
three from twenty-five to thirty square miles. 

Another fact also quickly appears, and that is, that 
there is frequently (and in the case of the larger " no 
licence " towns, generally) a " safety-valve " present 
in the shape of a neigbouring licence area. This fact 
is of considerable importance in America, and especi- 
ally in Massachusetts, where facilities for rapid transit 
are a conspicuous feature of the social system. In 
addition to well-developed railway communication, the 
towns and cities of the State are everywhere connected 
by an elaborate service of electric cars, which bring 
what in England would be esteemed widely-separated 
communities into rapid communication with each 
other. This is shown in the map which is given 
elsewhere (see Plate XX., p. 316(^), where the lines of 
the electric car systems are plainly indicated, and the 
full extent of the inter-connection of separate towns is 
made clear. The cheapness of the system is as remark- 
able as its efficiency, the usual fare being five cents 
(2Jc?.) — a sum which carries one in some cases for a 
distance of ten miles. The effect of this is, of course, 
most marked in the neighbourhood of the principal 
cities, and Boston especially has thus become the 
natural distributing centre for a large belt of smaller 
towns within a radius of ten or twelve miles. But 
the effect is not limited to the environs of a few cities ; 



312 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

it is to be seen everywhere, and it impresses itself 
upon tlie mind of an English visitor with irresistible 
force. Full allowance must, of course, be made for this 
in estimating the success of ^'no licence" in particu- 
lar areas, and, as a matter of fact, its influence is 
everywhere freely acknowledged by the leaders of the 
" no licence " movement in Massachusetts. At the 
same time there is obviously a very considerable differ- 
ence between a '^ safety-valve " of the kind here indi- 
cated and an ordinary licence system. In the one 
case the would-be customer is put to personal trouble 
to obtain his liquor, while in the other the saloon is 
brought to his door. The practical difference, so far 
as a large number of confirmed drinkers are concerned, 
is probably not great, but at least the system of ''no 
licence " with a " safety-valve " considerably reduces 
the amount of " social " and casual drinking, and, 
above all, protects the young. 

The influence of the " safety-valve," so far as it 
affects the question of local prohibition in Massachu- 
setts, can be judged from the following particulars, 
which show the facilities which exist for obtaining 
liquor in the vicinity of the ten largest " no licence" 
totvns {i.e.. townships). 

Danvers. Population (1895) 8,181 ; area 14 square 

miles ; contains 6 villages. It adjoins 
the licence city of Salem, with which it 
is connected by electric cars. (See map, 
p. 316a.) 

Attleborough. Population (1895) 8,288 ; area 28 square 
miles ; contains 9 villages. Is situate on 
the border of Ehode Island and adjoins 
the licence city of Pawtucket (popula- 



LOCAL OPTION 



313 



tion 32,577), with which it has direct 
communication by electric cars. 

Wakefield. Population (1895) 8,304 ; area 7*6 square 
miles ; contains 6 villages. Is situate 
four miles from the licence city of Wo- 
burn, six miles from the licence city of 
Lynn, and ten miles from Boston, with 
all of which cities it has direct com- 
munication by electric cars. These dis- 
tances are, of course, centre distances ; 
the actual distances separating the 
borders of the respecting towns being 
very much less. (See map, p. 316a.) 

Leominster. Population (1895) 9,211 ; area 29 square 
miles ; contains 4 villages. It adjoins 
the licence city of Fitchburg, with 
which it is directly connected by electric 
cars. The township is situated too far 
west to be included in the map given 
on p. 316a. 

Framingham.i Population (1895) 9,512 ; area 25 square 
miles ; contains 6 villages. On its north- 
west border it adjoins the licence city of 
Marlborough, and on its eastern border 
the licence town of Natick. It is also 
closely adjacent to the licence towns of 
Holliston and Hopkinton. It has direct 
communication by electric cars with all 
of these towns. 

Amesbury.^ Population (1895) 9,986 ; area 13 square 
miles. Is situate on the borders of New 

^ The towns of Framingham and Amesbury are too far 
distant from Boston to be included in the map given on p. 31Ga. 



314 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



Hampshire, and adjoins tlie licence city 
of Newbiiryport and the licence town of 
Salisbury, with both of which it has 
direct communication by electric cars. 
Changed from '' licence " to "no licence '' 
in 1899. 

Peabody. Population (1895) 10,507; area 17 

square miles ; contains 8 villages. It 
immediately adjoins the licence cities of 
Salem and Lynn, with both of which 
it is connected by electric cars. (See 
map, p. 316a.) 

Weymouth. Population (1895) 11,291 ; area 19 
square miles; contains 9 villages. Is 
situate twelve miles south-east of the 
centre of Boston, and within four or 
five miles of the licence town of Canton.^ 
It has direct communication by electric 
cars. 

Hyde Park. Population (1895) 11,826 ; area 4-6 
square miles; contains 4 villages. Is a 
suburb of Boston, which it adjoins on 
the north and north-west, and with 
which it is connected by electric cars. 
It also adjoins the licence town of Can- 
ton ^ on the south. (See map, p. 316a.) 

Brookline. Population (1895) 16,164; area 7 square 

miles. Is a wealthy residential suburb 
of Boston, and practically a part of that 
city, although administratively separate. 

^ Canton changed to "jao licence" in May, 1900. During the 
last five years it has voted twice for " licence," ajid three times 
for " no licence," 



LOCAL OPTION 3i5 

It is connected by electric cars. Is said 
to be the wealthiest town of its size in 
the Union. (See map, p. 316a.) 
The status of the towns is, however, constantly 
changing according to fluctuations in the annual 
vote. Thus, in 1897, 17 towns changed to ''licence" 
and 18 to "no licence"; in 1898, 24 changed to 
''licence" and 13 to "no licence"; while in 1899, 24 
changed to "licence" and 11 to "no licence." 

(6) Cities. 

If we turn to the "cities" of Massachusetts the 
same alternations of policy are discernible, but in a 
lesser degree. Of the twelve cities under "no licence" 
in 1900,^ ten have been under " no licence " for five 
or more successive years. 

There are thirty-three cities (" licence " and " no 
licence ") in the State, with an aggregate population 
(in 1895) of 1,647,732, or 65 per cent, of the total 
population of the State. Twelve of these cities, with 
an aggregate population of 360,215, are under " no 
licence," and twenty-one, with an aggregate popula- 
tion of 1,287,517, are under "licence." Or, to put 
it in another way, one-fifth (22 per cent.) of the total 
city population of Massachu.setts is under "no licence," 
and four-fifths (78 per cent.) are under " licence." 

The existence of these "no licence " cities in Massa- 
chusetts, in view of the impracticability of prohibition 
in urban centres elsewhere in the States, is at first 
surprising ; but investigation quickly shows that, as in 
the case of the towns already noticed, it is due to the 
existence of an effective " safety-valve "in the shape 
of adjacent licence areas. Eight of the twelve " no 
^ As represented by the vote taken in December, 1899. 



3i6 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

licence '' cities are simply suburbs (or what the people 
themselves call "bedrooms") of Boston, and although 
administratively separate, are for all practical purposes 
parts of the State capital. Of the remaining four 
"no licence" cities, one (Quincy) is also practically 
a suburb of Boston, for although o£6.cially returned 
as eight miles distant (i.e., from centre to centre), the 
borders of the two cities actually touch. (See map, 
p. 316a.) Quincy is directly connected with Boston by 
electric street cars, and by a quick railway service. 
Another of the more distant "no licence" cities 
(Beverley) is only two miles from the licence city of 
Salem, with which it has direct communication by 
electric street cars ; while the remaining two (Brock- 
ton ^ and Taunton ^) are also in direct communication 
with licence areas, although in these two cases the 
distances are somewhat greater.^ 

^ The population of Brockton in 1895 was 33,165. The city 
contains six villages, and covers an area of twenty square 
miles. It is situate four miles south of the town of Canton, 
which was under " licence" in 1899, but changed to "no licence" 
in May, 1900, and twenty miles south of the centre of Boston, 
with which it is connected by electric street cars. 

2 Taunton, which changed from " licence " to " no licence " in 
1900, has a population of 27,115. The city contains eleven 
villages, and covers an area of forty-six square miles. It is 
about seven miles distant from the licence city of Fall Eiver, 
with which it has direct connection by electric street cars. 

2 The following extract from a letter, dated February 8th, 
1900, which refers to the two cities last named (Brockton and 
Taunton), is of interest in this connection. It was forwarded 
to the present writers by a temperance official in Massachu- 
setts:— "We understand that a strong effort is being made to 
carry this town [Raynham] for licence next March. The 
Taunton liquor men are offering large sums of money, $2,000 
and 3,000, for a licence for a saloon just over the Taunton line 
in our town. [Taunton has voted " no licence," and Eaynham 



PLATE A-.\- 



Maj sho^\ lu^ tl e position of 




D 000 mbabitiut!. 



LOCAL OPTION 317 

Now it can hardly be doubted that this ^' safety- 
valve " of adjacent licence areas is a considerable 
factor in the success of "no licence" in these suburban 
areas. This, indeed, is universally admitted by the 
civic officials and by the leaders of the " no licence " 
movement in the State. On the occasion of his visit 
to Boston in September, 1899, one of the present 
writers was invited to attend the monthly meeting 
of the Directors of the Massachusetts Total Abstinence 
Society (the society that organizes the annual '' no 
licence " campaign in the State), when the question 
of the '^ safety-valve " afforded by Boston was publicly 
discussed. Representatives from all the principal "no 
licence " cities were present, and the opinion was 
freely expressed that, but for the facilities afforded 
by Boston, "no licence" would be impossible in the 
surrounding areas. The chairman stated that the 
residents in these areas were largely persons occupied 
in Boston during the day, where they could get all 
the liquor they required, but who preferred to keep 
the saloon away from their own homes. Speaking of 
his own suburb (Maiden), he said that "no licence" 

joins Taunton.] Our taxes last year were very high, over $20 
per $1,000, and the possibility of lightening them by liquor 
revenue will be a strong temptation for some to vote for licence 
who have hitherto voted the other way. The electric lines 
from Taunton to Brockton pass through this town, and should 
a saloon be located in Raynham there would be heavy patron- 
age from those two cities. Again, E. Taunton and S. Raynham 
are only divided by the Taunton river, and if Raynham gave 
a licence to the E. Taunton saloon-keeper, he could move his 
saloon a stone's throw and continue his deadly work as hereto- 
fore. The Taunton no-licence committee are especially in- 
terested, because if Raynham goes licence their work will be 
seriously injured." Later information (April, 1900) showed 
that in the end Rajmham voted "no licence." 



3i8 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

would be impossible there but for the proximity of 
Boston. Similar testimony was given by other 
speakers concerning Cambridge, Medford, and other 
suburbs. The Boston Transcript^ in reporting the 
discussion, said : '' It was the general sentiment that, 
were it not possible to procure liquor in Boston, these 
cities would vote 'yes' on the licence question."^ 

The actual position was made very clear by the 
vote which was taken on the issue of State prohibi- 
tion in 1889. In that year a proposed Amendment to 
the Constitution, prohibiting the manufacture and 
sale of intoxicating liquors in the State, was submitted 
to the people, and rejected by a majority of nearly 
46,000 votes. ^ The vote was taken at a special elec- 
tion when no other issue was before the electors. Out 
of 350 towns and cities which voted on the question, 
only 145, or considerably less than one-half, voted in 
favour of the Prohibitory Amendment, although in 
the same year (i.e., 1888-9)- no less than 275 towns and 
cities, or more than three-fourths of the whole, had 
voted in favour of "no licence." 

Of the twelve ''no licence" cities now under dis- 
cussion (ten of which had voted for " no licence " in 
that year) eight gave a majority against the Prohibi- 
tory Amendment. The most striking cases were those 
of Quincy and Cambridge, two of the most deter- 
minedly "no licence" areas in Massachusetts. The 
former, which had given a majority in favour of "no 
licence" of 936, gave a majority of 578 against the 

* Boston Transcript, September 13tli, 1899. It is noteworthy 
tliat out of 26,157 arrests for drunkenness in Boston in 1898 
(the latest year for which returns are available), no fewer than 
11,615, or 44 per cent., were " non-residents." 

^ See footnote, p. 806. 



LOCAL OPTION 31^ 

Prohibitory Aniendment ; while Cambridge, which 
had given a majority of 664: in favour of " no licence," 
gave a majority of 2,638 against the Prohibitory 
Amendment ! 

The matter becomes obvious when we examine the 
circumstances of each '' no licence " area separately. 
This cannot be accomplished in detail within the 
limits of the present chapter, but the essential facts 
concerning the most important of the '^ no licence " 
cities can be briefly summarised. 

Population (1895). 

Cambridge 81,643 

We select, first, the city of Cambridge, which is the 
largest '^ no licence ' ' city in America. The city has been 
under "no licence" since 1886, and is said to furnish 
'• one of the most striking and instructive illustrations 
of the operations of a prohibitory policy adopted by 
popular veto." The city is closely adjacent to Boston, 
from which it is only separated by the river Charles. 
It is connected with Boston by several bridges 
traversed by electric and other tramways. The in- 
terests of the suburb are identical with those of the 
capital, and large numbers of its inhabitants are 
employed there. " There is little doubt," says Mr. 
Fanshawe,^ " that both in this and in other cities and 
towns in the immediate neighbourhood of Boston the 
vote for ^ no licence ' is supported by many who are 
not prohibitionists, but are influenced by reasons of 
local convenience and the facilities afforded by the 
adjoining city. ... A large number of the arrests 
for drunkenness are made at the Cambridge ends of 

^ Liquor Legislation in the United States and Canada^ 
p. 206. 



3^0 THE TEiMPERANCE PROBLEM 

the bridges as the revellers return from Boston." One 
of the present writers visited Cambridge in the autumn 
of 1899. The city (which is the seat of Harvard 
University) is largely residential, but in the eastern 
part of the city there is a large working-class popula- 
tion. It is noteworthy that Ward 3, a working-class 
district and the poorest ward in the city, persistently 
votes for " licence," but is always outvoted by the 
other and wealthier wards. ^ 

The consensus of opinion in Cambridge is strongly 
in favour of '^ no licence," and the broad results of the 
experiment there unquestionably seem to justify it. 
In the poorer parts of the city a certain amount of 
illegal sale {e.g. " kitchen bars," etc.) takes place, and 
there is also some infringement of the law in con- 
nection with the druggists' licences.^ These, however, 
are comparatively small blemishes in what is other- 
wise a successful experiment in local prohibition. 

^ The vote in this Ward at the last election (December, 1899), 
was as follows : — For licence, 1,108 ; Against, 400. Majority 
for licence, 708. 

^ These druggists' licences are not subject to a " no licence " 
vote, but are issued on payment of $1 to all registered pharma- 
cists who hold a certificate of fitness from the State Board of 
Pharmacy, and where the issue of such licences has not been 
forbidden by the local licensing authority. There are fortj^- 
eight druggists holding such licences in Cambridge. Sales of 
liquor can only be made for medicinal, mechanical, or chemical 
purposes, and upon the certificate of the purchaser, and every 
sale must be recorded in a book kept by the druggist for the 
purpose. The regulations of the law are, however, frequently 
disregarded in practice, and there is no doubt that in Cam- 
bridge, as also in other " no licence " towns, liquor is sold by 
druggists for ordinary beverage purposes. This was clearly 
stated by Captain Pullen, an ardent supporter of " no licence," 
who is in charge of the third police district in Cambridge. He 
further stated that there is no " open " liquor selling in Cam- 



LOCAL OPTION 



321 



The proximity of Boston is, of course, the central 
fact in the situation, and it is so obviously the deter- 
mining fact that the case of Cambridge does not call 
for further comment. 

The following table gives the arrests for drunken- 
ness in Cambridge for the last twenty years. It in- 
cludes the eight years immediately preceding the 



adoption of ' 


no licence " 


and the twelve years 


since : — 

Years. 

^^ Licence" (1379^-1881 
11882-1886^ 


Average number of arrests 

for drunkenness per 

1,000 of the population. 

. 9-5 
. . . 12-4 




1887-1891 


. 11'3 


'^ No Licence "- 


1892-1896 
1897 


. 22-8 
. 21-8 




1898 


. 19-5 



No explanation is forthcoming of the great increase 
in drunkenness in the last seven years. 



Somerville 



Population (1895). 
. 52,200 



The next largest " no licence " area in Massachusetts 
is Somerville, which adjoins both Cambridge and 
Boston, and is, for all practical purposes, a part of the 

bridge, but liquor is sold secretly in a few " kitclien bars." The 
law is alwaj^s strongly enforced against them when they are 
caught selling. He added that the chief difficulty they have to 
encounter in Cambridge arises from the large number of pack- 
ages of liquor which are delivered by express agents and others 
from Boston, who persistently (although illegally) canvas for 
orders in Cambridge. 

^ Eeturns not available prior to 1879. 

^ Includes 1882 and 1884-6 only. Eeturns are not available 
for 1883. 

21 



322 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

latter city. Only the initiated, indeed, could tell 
where the area of the one city ends and that of the 
other begins. The chief of the police when inter- 
viewed said that there was no " open " sale of liquor in 
Somerville as in the cities of Maine, but they 
were troubled to some extent with " kitchen bar- 
rooms " and '' pocket peddling." The police make from 
twenty to thirty prosecutions a year. He expressed 
strong approval of the general results of "no licence " 
in Somerville, but stated that the policy was success- 
ful because of the proximity of Boston. This was 
confirmed on another occasion by the Secretary to the 
Commissioners of State Prisons, who lives in Somer- 
ville. 

Population (1895). 

Chelsea 31,264 

Chelsea is another suburb of Boston where a similar 
condition of things exists. The chief of the police 
stated that they had no difficulty in enforcing " no 
licence " in Chelsea, for the latter was merely a " bed- 
room " for Boston. 

Similar testimony was given concerning Maiden 
(population 29,708), Newton (population 27,590), 
Everett (population 18,573), Medford (population 
14,474), and other suburban areas, where proximity to 
Boston is freely assigned as a reason for the success 
with which a '' no licence " policy can be carried out. 
The general impression created by the experience of 
these areas is distinctly favourable, and full of en- 
couragement to those who look hopefully to the appli- 
cation of a like policy to similar areas in Great 
Britain.^ 

^ The town of Pullman, Illinois (population, 1893, 12,000), is 
another instance of successful local prohibition where similar 



LOCAL OPTION 323 



LOCAL OPTION IN CANADA 

No. of Persons 
Population (1898). i per Square Mile.2 

5,248,315 1-4 

Distribution of Population at the last census (1891). 

71% lived in rural districts other than villages, towns, etc. 

4 „ villages, towns, etc., of 1,500^ to 3,000 inhabitants. 

3 „ „ „ „ 3,000 to 5,000 „ 

4 „ ,, ,, „ 5,000 to 10,000 „ 

3 ,, ,, ,, „ 10,000 to 20,000 ,, 

5 [', '., ',, ,, 20,000 to 50,000 „ 
1 ., Quebec, population 63,000 

4 „ Toronto, population 181,(X)0 

5 ,, Montreal, population 216,000 

The Dominion of Canada, although very thinly- 
peopled,^ deserves more than passing notice. 



facilities exist. The town is situate on the shores of Lake 
Calumet, and forms part of the thirty-fourth ward of the city 
of Chicago. It was built early in the eighties by the Pullman 
Car Company, who from the beginning have forbidden all 
traffic in liquor within the area under their control. That this 
ordinance has worked with advantage to the town there is 
ample evidence to show. At the same time, it does not deprive 
the inhabitants of easy access to liquor, since — according to the 
statement of the British Consul at Chicago — " by walking 
across the street they are in the town of Kensington, and can 
there buy all they want." The case is therefore in every way 
analogous to those already considered. 

^ Official estimate. 

2 The dominion of Canada extends 3,500 miles from east to 
west and 1,400 miles north to south, and covers a total area of 
3,653,946 square miles. 

^ This is the official limit separating rural from urban popu- 
lations in Canada. 

* It had less than two (1'4) persons per square mile in 1898, 
as against 332 persons per square mile in the United Kingdom, 
and 540 in England and "Wales in the same year. 



324 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

The consumption of alcoholic beverages is, with one 
exception, smaller in Canada than in any other country 
for which statistical data are available, and it con- 
tinues to decline.^ The one exception is Norway, 
where the consumption of alcohol per head of the 
population is exactly equal to that of Canada.^ At 
the present time the per capita consumption of alcohol 
in Canada is only one-half the per capita consumption 
of the United States, and only one-fifth that of England 
and "Wales.^ The temperance sentiment of the country 
is also more advanced and active than is the case else- 
where. Prohibitory legislation of a permissive charac- 
ter plays an important part in its licensing arrange- 
ments. In addition to the "Scott Act," which is a 
Federal law, it has a variety of provincial laws which 
recognise, although unequally, the principle of local 
option. It is understood that any authority exercised 
under provincial legislation takes effect only in 
localities in which the electors have not availed them- 
selves of the prohibition authorised by the " Scott 
Act." 

^ The following table gives the per capita consumption of 

absolute alcohol in Canada for the last thirty years: — 

Absolute Alcohol. 
Galls. 

1871-75 0-79 

1876-80 -60 

1881-85 -m 

1886-90 -58 

1891-95 -55 

1896-98 . . . . . -52 

2 See pp. 74, 76. 

^ The proportion of population living in towns of 5,000 

inhabitants and upwards in the three countries is as under : — 

Canada 22 per cent. 

United States 32 ,, 

England and Wales . . . .68 ,, 



LOCAL OPTION 325 

Nearly all tlie Provinces liave legislation autliorising 
relatives to prohibit by notice the sale of liquor to 
habitual drunkards, minors, or other persons in whom 
the notifiers are interested, and imposing severe penal- 
ties for sale after such notice. Most of the Provinces 
have also civil damage laws, and some Provinces 
authorise the commitment of habitual drunkards to 
special asylums. 

Under the Canada Temperance Act of 1878 (com- 
monly known as the '' Scott " Act, from the name of 
the member of the Senate who introduced it), counties 
and cities in the Dominion can, by a majority of those 
entitled to vote for representatives in the Federal 
Parliament, prohibit the retail sale of intoxicating 
liquors within their boundaries. Twenty-five per 
cent, of the electors of any county or city can, by 
petition to His Excellency the Governor-General in 
Council, require that a vote of the electors of the 
same county or city be taken on the question of the 
adoption of the prohibitory clauses of the Act. When 
half or more of the votes polled are against the 
petition, no similar petition can be entertained for 
a period of three years. If a majority of the qualified 
electors of the said county or city vote in favour of 
the adoption of the Act, it is put in force by proclama- 
tion of the Governor-General, all legal formalities 
having been previously complied with. The Act 
being adopted, the retail sale of liquor, except by 
persons licensed to sell for medicinal, mechanical, and 
sacramental purposes, is prohibited. No further vote 
can be taken for a period of three years. 

Since the passing of the Act it has been submitted 
to public opinion in nine cities and seventy-three 



326 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

counties.^ It remains in force in one city (Frederic- 
ton) and twenty-seven counties.^ In the provinces of 
Ontario and Brifcisli Columbia, wHch contain the larg- 
est proportion of urban population of all the provinces 
in the Dominion, the Act is nowhere in force.^ Both 
of these provinces, however, have other permissive 
legislation in force which recognises the principle of 
local option. Now, it is unquestionable that, so far 
as the rural districts are concerned (and Canada, it must 

^ The following is a summary : — 

Carried four times and still in force ... 2 

„ twice ,, ,, ... 4 

„ once ,, ,, ... 22 

At present in force (September, 1899) . . .28 

Defeated tlie first time and not submitted again . 17 

Carried tlie first election but defeated the second . 30 

„ twice and lost twice 1 

,, once and lost twice 1 

,, twice and lost once 3 

Lost twice and not carried at all . . . .1 
Carried three times, rejected the fourth, carried the 

fifth, and rejected the sixth .... 1 

54 

2 The Act is in force in one county in the Province of Quebec, 
in two counties in the Province of Manitoba, in eleven in the 
Province of Nova Scotia, in ten counties and one city in the 
Province of New Brunswick, and in three counties in the 
Province of Prince Edward Island. Statistical Year Book of 
Canada, 1898, p. 538. 

^ Formerly, twenty-five counties and two cities in the Pro- 
vince of Ontario were under the provisions of the " Scott " Act, 
representing three-fourths of the entire province, but the law 
was subsequently repealed in them all, " repeal in most cases " 
• — to quote the words of Dr. M'Leod, the representative of the 
Dominion Temperance Organisations on the Canadian Com- 
mission — " taking place at the earliest possible opportunity." 



LOCAL OPTION 327 

be remembered, is pre-eminently a country of rural 
populations), tlie local veto clauses of the various 
permissive Acts have achieved satisfactory results. 
In this respect the experience of Canada more than 
confirms the encouragement suggested by the experi- 
ence of the United States. But it is necessary at the 
same time to point out that Canada furnishes us with 
no evidence that in the larger towns and cities of the 
United Kingdom a prohibitory policy would be suc- 
cessful. The available evidence, on the contrary, is 
opposed to such a presumption. 

This will most clearly appear from a brief summary 
of the facts for each Province in the Dominion. 



PROVINCE OF ONTARIO 

No. of Persona 
Population (1891) . per Square Mile. 

2,114321 10 

Distribution of Population at the last census (1891). 
67% lived in rural districts other than villages, towns, etc. 
10 ,, villages, towns, etc., of 1,500 and under 5,000 inhabitants. 

5 „ „ „ „ 5,000 „ 10,000 
3 „ „ „ „ 10,000 „ 25,000 

6 „ „ „ „ 25,000 „ 50,000 
9 „ Toronto, population 181,000 

The liquor laws of this Province are exceedingly 
stringent. Licences are of three kinds : (a) tavern 
licences (retail " on ") ; (b) shop licences (retail " off") ; 
and (c) wholesale licences (to sell in quantities of not 
less than five gallons).^ The licensing arrangements 
are entrusted to a Board of three Commissioners for 

^ In the case of bottled beer, wine, or spirits, the limit is one 
dozen bottles of at least three half-pints each, or two dozen 
bottles of at least three-fourths of a pint each. 



328 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

each electoral district,^ together with an inspector.^ 
Applications for a new licence (retail) must be accom- 
panied by a certificate, signed by a majority of the 
electors of the polling sub-division in which the 
premises sought to be licensed are situate, and the 
said majority must include at least one-third of the 
resident electors of the sub-division. In localities not 
under municipal organisation, the certificate must be 
signed by at least eleven out of the twenty house- 
holders residing nearest to the premises for which a 
licence is sought. No neio licence can be granted for 
any building situate within 300 feet of a church or 
school. Any seventy-five persons, being a majority 
of the electors in any polling sub-division, may 
petition against the renewal of a tavern licence on 
the ground that the locality in which the same is 
exercised is a residential, and not a business, locality. 
If, in the judgment of the Commissioners, the ob- 
jection is well-grounded, the licence is not renewed. 
Every tavern or inn authorised to be licensed for 
''on" sale must contain not less than four bedrooms 
(in cities, six), in addition to what may be needed for 
the use of the family of the licensee, and must also 
possess the appliances requisite for daily serving meals 
to travellers. 

The ordinary statutory fee for a retail licence (" on " 
or '-off") is as follows: — "In cities, $100; in towns, 
$80 ; other municipalities, $60. The local municipal 
council may, however, impose a higher fee, up to 
$200, at its discretion, and beyond that amount with 

^ The licensing district is usnally tlae electoral district, but 
tliere are exceptions {e.g. in Toronto and other cities). 

^ In Ottawa there are two inspectors, and in Toronto three ; 
elsewhere, one, 



LOCAL OPTION 329 

the consent of tlie electors. Over and above this 
sum, a further tax of from $130 to $250 in cities ; 
$70 in towns ; $60 in villages ; and $30 in townships 
is levied as a part of the consolidated revenue of the 
Province. 

The method of appropriating the revenue from 
licences is somewhat complicated. Of the proceeds 
of the ordinary statutory fees, one-third (after pay- 
ment of expenses) is paid into the Provincial treasury, 
and two-thirds to the treasurer of the local muni- 
cipality. Additional fees imposed by the municipality 
(up to $200) are retained by the locality, but all sums 
imposed by the municipality in excess of $200 are 
divided equally between the Province and the muni- 
cipality. The further special tax levied by the Pro- 
vincial government goes, as already shown, into the 
Provincial treasury. 



Statutory Limit. 

The law further provides that in cities, towns, and 
incorporated villages the number of tavern licences 
to be granted shall not exceed one for the first 250 
of the population, with an additional licence for each 
subsequent 250, provided that not more than three be 
granted for the first 1,000 of the population, and one 
for each subsequent 600 of the population after the 
first 1,000.^ Municipal councils may, however, limit 
the number to be issued within their own areas. 

^ In the case of county towns having a population of 2.500 or 
less, the limit is one for each full 250 of the population up to 
1,000, and one for each full 400 after the first 1,000. 



330 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

The maximum generally prevails except in tlie large 
cities.^ 

The following table gives the total number of 
licences issued in the Province of Ontario for the 
year 1897-8:— 

Tavern licences, " on " . . . 2,725^ 
Shop „ ''off" . . . 317 

Wholesale „ "off" . . . 22 



3,064 3 

No '' shop " licence (i.e. retail " off") may be granted 
for any store or shop where groceries or other merchan- 
dise (other than tobacco, cigars, and cigarettes in un- 
broken packages) are sold. The municipal council 
may at its discretion limit the number of such 

^ The number granted in the three largest cities is as 
follows : — 

Toronto. Ottawa. Hamilton. 
(Pop. 186,000.) (Pop. 55,000.) (Pop. 50,000.) 
!r«i;e?'Ji licences, " on " . . 150 . 77 . 75 
Shop „ "off" . . 50 . 33 . 20 

Wholesale „ "off" . . 6.5.3 

206 115 ^ 

1 "on 1 " on 1 " on 

licence" to licence" to licence "to 

every 1,240 every 720 every 670 

inhabitants, inhabitants, inhabitants. 

For a comparison with English cities, see p. 

2 Exclusive of 59 special summer licences. 

3 It may be interesting to compare this total with the figures 
for each quinquennial period during the last 25 years : — 

1874-78 4,666 

1879-83 4,113 

1884-88 (" Scott " Act largely in force) . 2,677 

1889-93 3,428 

1894-97 S.lll 



LOCAL OPTION 331 

licences to be issued within its area. All clubs at 
wlLich liquor is sold or otherwise disposed of must 
be duly licensed. 

Hours of Bale. 

The hours of sale are from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. in 
townships and villages, and from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. in 
towns and cities, except on Saturdays, when no 
liquor may be sold after 7 p.m. Sunday sales are 
absolutely prohibited. The Sunday regulation ap- 
pears to be strictly obeyed in the case of the ordinary 
taverns, but sales are made to guests in the principal 
hotels without interference from the authorities. No 
liquor may be sold at any time to minors (this applies 
to clubs also), nor may liquor be sold on election 
days. 

Extent of Prohibition. 

There appears to be very little actual prohibition 
in Ontario. Out of seven hundred and four separate 
municipalities {i e. cities, towns, incorporated villages, 
townships, and unorganized territories) in the Province, 
only seventy-six, or eleven per cent, of the whole, were 
under " no licence " in 1897-8, the latest year for which 
statistics are available, and these were all exceedingly 
small. Of twenty-three^ towns and cities which had 
5,000 or more inhabitants at the last census, not one 
is under prohibition. 

The licensing arrangements are, however, carefully 
controlled, and the law is everywhere well enforced. 
Provincial and civic ofHcials alike testify to its good 
results. 

^ Bepresenting one-half of the total number in Canada. 



332 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

PROVINCE OF QUEBEC 

No. of Persons 
Population (1891). per Square Mile. 

1,488,535 6 

Distribution of Population at tlie last census (1891). 
71% lived in rural districts other than villages, towns, etc. 
5 „ villages, towns, etc., of 1,500 to 5,000 inhabitants. 

3 „ ,, ,, 5,000 to 10,000 

2 „ ,, ,, 10,000 to 15,000 „ 

4 ,, Quebec, population 63,000 
15 „ Montreal, population 216,000 

The licensing arrangements for this Province are in 
the hands of the Provincial Revenue Department, but 
municipal councils (outside of the cities of Montreal 
and Quebec), have power to control or prohibit the 
granting of licences. The law (as in Ontario) does 
not recognise the existence of a saloon proper, but 
restricts the " on " sale of liquor to (a) inns, where 
accommodation is provided for food and lodgings, 
and (b) restaurants, where arrangements exist for 
supplying at least ten persons at one time with a 
meal. This restriction, however, makes little prac- 
tical difference, for the places so licensed are to all 
intents and purposes ordinary saloons, and, in the 
case of restaurants especially, little provision is made 
for serving meals. Restaurant licences are not granted 
to rural districts. In addition to the above, shop licences 
{i.e. for "off" sales) are also granted. The holders of 
these are not prohibited, as in Ontario, from selling 
groceries or other commodities. In some instances the 
holders of these "off" licences violate the law by sell- 
ing for '^ on " consumption also. 

An applicant for an "on" licence {i.e. for an inn or 
restaurant) must furnish the collector of provincial 
revenue with a certificate signed by twenty-five 



LOCAL OPTION 333 

municipal electors of the village, town, or ward of a 
city in which the premises sought to be licensed are 
situate. 

The authorities charged with confirming the cer- 
tificate may not confirm the certificate of any appli- 
cant if a majority of the municipal electors residing 
or having their places of business in the polling 
sub-division in which the saloon is to be located, 
object thereto in writing. The certificates (except 
those connected with applications for licences in the 
cities of Quebec and Montreal) must also be confirmed 
by the local municipal council.^ 

Local municipal councils have also power to pass 
bye-laws prohibiting the sale of liquor within the 
limits over which they have jurisdiction. In such 
cases one person in each municipality may be licensed 
to sell for medicinal and sacramental purposes only. 
The '^ Scott " Act can be adopted in any city or 
county upon a petition of one-fourth of the electors 
of such city or county. This Act, however, is only in 
force in one county in the Province, and is not likely 
to be further adopted. 

Number of Licences. 

There is no statutory limit to the number of licences 
that may be issued in a locality, except in the case of 
Montreal, where the maximum number of " on " licences 
{i.e. for inns and restaurants) to be permitted is fixed 

^ The same conditions attacli to sliop {i.e. *' off") licences, and 
licences for duhs, except that tlie number of signatures of muni- 
cipal electors required upon a certificate is reduced to three. 
Before any club licence is issued, the constitution, rules, and 
regulations of such club must be submitted to the Provincial 
Treasurer, who may refuse to grant the licence if he sees fit. 



334 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

at 400. This gives a proportion at the present time of 
one ''on" licence (excluding clubs) for every 625 per- 
sons of the population.^ 

These figures are, however, misleading, for in Mon- 
treal, as elsewhere in the Province, a large number of 
unlicensed places sell liquor freely. Many of these 
illegal "shebeens" are "candy shops," and cigar stores, 
while others are immoral houses. No attempt seems 
to be made to suppress the latter. The keepers of the 
houses are fined once a year, and for the rest are al- 
lowed to go on selling without a licence. It is said 
that but for the drink they would not be so freely 
patronised. The ordinary " shebeens " {i.e. illicit liquor 
saloons) are not confined to the cities and towns, but 
are found also in the country parishes. The Comp- 
troller of the Provincial Revenue Department stated 
that a considerable amount of illicit sale goes on in 
the rural districts, including those under prohibition. 
The law imposes a fine for a first or second offence, 
and imprisonment for a third, but in practice the 
latter is rarely imposed. The fines ordered by the law 
are also often " continued" for political reasons. The 
"Trade" exercises great political influence in the 
Province. It attaches itself to no one party, but shifts 
its vote in each constituency as its interests demand. 
It is said to be "all powerful." 

Licence Fees, 

The fees charged for licences are as follow : — 

1. Inn licences ("on"): In the city of Montreal, 
$400 to $800 ; in the city of Quebec, $250 to 
$650 ; and in every other city, $200. In incor- 

^ Montreal has in addition 500 grocers' licences. 



LOCAL OPTION 335 

porated towns, $180 ; in villages, $150 ; in every 
section of an organized territory outside of 
cities, towns, and villages, $125 ; and in unor- 
ganized territory, $90. 

2. Restaurant licences ("on") : In the city of Mont- 

real, $400 to $800 ; in the city of Quebec, $300 
to $500; in every other city, $200; in incor- 
porated towns the fee is $150. 

3. Club licences ("on"); in the city of Montreal, 

$300; in the city of Quebec, $200; and $100 
elsewhere. 

4. Sho]^ licences (retail "off") : In each of the cities 

of Montreal and Quebec, $25 and 125 per cent. 
of the annual value or rent of the premises ; 
provided that in no case shall the duties on 
such licence be less than $200 or more than 
$400. In every other city the fee is fixed at 
$200 ; in incorporated towns the fee is $160 ; 
and in every other part of organized territory, 
$125. 

The total revenue derived from liquor licences in 
the Province in 1898 was $541,190 (£108,238). 

Hours of Bale. 

The statutory hours of sale are from 5 a.m. to mid- 
night for inns and restaurants ("on"), and from 4 a.m. 
to midnight for shops (" off"). Local municipal coun- 
cils have discretionary powers to close at 7 p.m. on 
Saturdays and 10 p.m. on other days, if they so desire. ^ 
All sales are absolutely prohibited on Sundays. This 
last regulation is, however, ignored in the principal 

* Under the law, no sales may be made to soldiers, sailors, 
apprentices, or servants after 8 p.m. 



336 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

hotels, witli the knowledge of the authorities. The 
bar of the hotel at which one of the present writers 
stayed in Quebec was open on Sunday to outsiders and 
guests alike. Many of the other saloons in Quebec 
and Montreal also serve customers on Sunday at side 
and back doors. 

Extent of ProMMtion. 
Nearly two-thirds of the municipalities in the Pro- 
vince {i.e. 603 out of 933) are without licences at the 
present time. These '' no licence " areas are, however, 
almost wholly confined to the rwal municipalities (i.e. 
villages with from 500 to 1,000 inhabitants). Accord- 
ing to the Comptroller of the Provincial Eevenue 
Department there is no town or city under prohibition.^ 



NOVA SCOTIA 

T> 1 I' /loniN No. of Persons 

Population (1891). p^^, gq^^^^ ^ile. 

450,396 22 

Distribution of Population at the last census (1891) : — 
78 % lived in rural districts other than villages, towns, etc. 
9 „ villages, towns, etc., of 1,500 to 5,000 inhabitants. 

4 „ „ „ „ 5,000 to 10,000 „ 

9 ,, Halifax, population 38,556. 

The licensing arrangements in this Province are 
even more drastic than those of Ontario. The licensing 
authority is the local municipal council, and but three 
kinds of licences are allowed : — 

* The Provincial Secretary of the Dominion Alliance informed 
us that the two largest " towns " under prohibition in Quebec 
are Westmount and St. Lambert. Both are, however, suburbs 
of Montreal. The former (population, 1899, 7,(X)0) is really a 
part of the city, while the latter (which had a population of 906 
in 1891) is just across the river 



LOCAL OPTION 337 

1. Hotel licences, wliicli authorise tlie holder to sell 

liquor in quantities not exceeding one quart to 
hona fide guests or lodgers in his hotel, dur- 
ing the regular meals or in their own rooms, 
only. No bar of any kind is allowed, nor may 
such sales be made to a person other than a 
guest, boarder, or lodger in the hotel. The fee 
for such licence is $150. 

2. Shojp licences, which allow the holder to sell liquor 

in quantities of not less than one pint, nor more 
than two gallons, for ''off" consumption only. 
Such licences may not be granted to premises 
where groceries or other merchandise are sold. 
The fee for a " shop " licence is $100. 

3. Wholesale licences '' off." Fee, $300. 

Shops where liquor is sold must be open to full view 
from the street. No licence may be granted for any 
premises situate within one hundred yards of a church 
or school, except where such premises were continu- 
ously licensed for four years prior to the passing of 
the Act. No person holding a licence to sell liquor, 
or engaged directly or indirectly in the business of 
manufacturing, buying, or selling liquor, may be ap- 
pointed to the of!ice of justice of the peace. The hours 
of sale are from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. ; Saturdays, 6 p.m. 
No sales are allowed on Sundays except to hona fide 
guests in hotels during meals. No liquor may be given, 
supplied, or furnished to a minor by a licence-holder or 
his assistants. Sales are also forbidden on election 
days. The administration of the lav: is entrusted to 
special licence inspectors appointed by the municipal 
council. Every inspector at the time of his nomina- 
tion and during ofHce must be a member in good 

22 



338 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

standing of some recognised temperance organisation 
within the municipality or Province. 

An application for a hotel, shop, or wholesale licence 
elsewhere than in the city of Halifax, must be accom- 
panied by a certificate signed by two-thirds of the 
resident ratepayers of the polling district in which the 
premises sought to be licensed are situated. In the 
city of Halifax three-fifths of the resident ratepayers 
of the polling district must sign the certificate for a 
shop or hotel licence, and a majority of the resident 
ratepayers in the case of a wholesale licence. 

In municipalities where no licences are issued, the 
council may appoint one or more agents to sell for 
medicinal, mechanical, or manufacturing purposes 
only. No such agent may have any interest in the 
profits accruing from his sales. 

Nearly the whole of the Province is under ''no 
licence." Indeed, licences are only issued in two {e.g. 
Halifax and Eichmond) out of eighteen counties at 
the present time. Prohibition sentiment appears to 
be exceptionally strong in Nova Scotia, and in all but 
a few places the law is said to be well enforced. The 
population is chiefly rural, and the few municipalities 
are exceedingly small, there being only one important 
city in the Province. „This is Halifax (population, 
1899, 45,000), which has 120 licences, or one to every 
375 persons of the population. In this city enforce- 
ment of the restrictive clauses of the law is found to 
be extremely difficult, and the "bar" sale of liquor, 
although forbidden, is nevertheless carried on. The 
Eev. Dr. M'Leod, the representative of the Dominion 
temperance organizations on the Royal Canadian 
Commission (1892-5), states in his report that, ''It 
was made clear that in Halifax but slight regard is 



LOCAL OPTION 339 

paid to tlie restrictive features of the licence law, 
either by the licensees or others." ^ 



NEW BRUNSWICK 

•p^.^„i,,4.,v-^ /■1aQ^^ No. of Persons 

Population (1891) . p^^ gq^^^^ ^-^^^ 

321,263 11 

Distribution of Population at the last census (1891). 
81 per cent, lived in rural districts other than villages, towns, etc . 

2 „ „ villages, towns, etc., of 1,500 to 5,000 inhabitants. 

5 „ „ „ „ „ 5,000 to 10,000 „ 

12 „ „ St. John, population 39,000. 

The licensing authority in this Province is a Board 
of three Commissioners, appointed by the Lieutenant- 
Grovernor, for each city, town, or county.^ Licences 

^ In an official memorandum transmitted through the 
Governor-General of Canada to Lord Knutsford in 1889, the 
Provincial Secretary of Nova Scotia wrote : "In rural districts, 
where there is a strong temperance sentiment, the Act is well 
observed. Few licences are issued. In the city of Halifax the 
effect of the present legislation is a matter of debate. The most 
important difference between the present law and the preceding 
Provincial legislation is in relation to saloon licences. The 
city had for many years a large number of saloons which were 
licensed by the municipal authorities. The Act of 1886 was 
designed to prohibit this form of the traffic. A hotel licence 
authorises the sale of liquor under certain conditions to bona- 
fide guests. A shop licence authorises the sale in quantities 
not less than one pint and prohibits drinking on the premises. 
The advocates of prohibition, who secured the passing of this 
legislation, admit that the Act has not realised their expecta- 
tions in the city of Halifax. Though no bars are allowed by 
law, it is alleged that there are as many as there were before, 
that holders of shop licences sell to persons who drink on the 
premises, and that there is, as before, much selling by unlicensed 
persons." — Parliamentary Return [0.-6,670] 1892. 

^ The word " county," as here used, means that part of any 
county which is outside the limits of a city or incorporated 
town. 



340 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

are of two kinds : (a) Tavern licences (" on "), wHch 
authorise the sale of liquor in quantities not exceeding 
one quart, which may be consumed in the hotel, 
saloon, or tavern, or other house of entertainment in 
which the same is sold ; and (b) wholesale licences, 
which authorise the sale of liquor in quantities of not 
less than one quart for consumption ^'off" the pre- 
mises. The number of tavern licences which may be 
granted is determined by statute, as follows : In cities 
and incorporated towns, one for each full 250 of the 
first 1,000 of the population of each ward taken 
separately, and one for each full 500 over the first 
1,000. Not more than seventy-five tavern licences 
may be granted in the city of St. John.'^ In rural 
districts the number of tavern licences must not ex- 
ceed one for each 400 up to 1,200 of the population, 
and one for each full 1,000 beyond 1,200. The hours 
of sale are from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. (Saturdays 7 p.m.). 
All Sunday sales are absolutely prohibited. No 
licensed tavern-keeper may be appointed as a magis- 
trate, nor elected to serve in the council of any city, 
town, or other municipality ; nor may he hold any 
office in the appointment of any city, town, or other 
municipal council. He is also disqualified from serving 
as a trustee of a school. 

One-fourth of the ratepayers in any ward of a city, 
town, or rural parish may petition that a vote be 
taken of the ratepayers in such ward or parish on the 
question of granting or refusing licences. A bare 

^ In the city of St. John six hotels, each having sleeping 
accommodation for at least fifty guests, and one additional 
hotel having sleeping accommodation for at least two hundred 
guests, may also be licensed in addition to the seventy-fiv© 
taverns referred to above. 



LOCAL OPTION m 

majority of the votes polled determines the question. 
No further election can be held for three years there- 
after. No signatures of ratepayers, etc., are required 
in support of any application for a licence, but any 
ten or more electors of any ward or parish have the 
right to object by petition, or in any similar manner, 
to the granting of any licence within such ward or 
parish. Such objections are to be considered by the 
Board of Commissioners, whose decision is final. 

Prohibition exists in nine out of fourteen counties 
in the Province under the Canada Temperance 
(" Scott ") Act. These counties only include three 
towns of even moderate size, namely : Moncton (popu- 
lation, 1898, 10,000); Fredericton (population, 1898, 
7,000) ; and Woodstock (population, 1898, 4,000). The 
evidence points to the fact that in the two former 
cities liquor is still procurable, but that less is sold 
than when the towns were under licence, and it is 
further stated that there is less drunkenness.^ 

^ The Royal Canadian Commissioners, in reporting on the 
condition of things in Moncton in 1892-93, said: — ■ 

" It was stated that in Moncton, population 9,138, where the 
* Scott ' Act was in force, that there were as many as fifteen 
places where liquor was being sold, and it was notorious that 
there was no difficulty at all in purchasing liquor in the town. 
The opinion was expressed, however, that there was less drink- 
ing at the present time in Moncton, in proportion to the popula- 
tion, than there was when the traffic in the town was regulated 
under a licence system." 

" The Collector of Customs stated that for the j^ear ended 
1st July, 1892, 2,624 gallons of spirituous liquors had been im- 
ported, and that it was principally Scotch whisky. There was 
some brandy in casks." 

The Commissioners add : — " As evidence of how openly tlie 
liquor traffic is conducted in the city of Moncton, it may be 
mentioned that the city marshal stated that, acting under the 
instructions of the maj^or, in regard to the 12th of July, he had 



342 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

The following " Minute of Council," drawn up "by 
tlie Committee of tlie Executive Council of tlie Pro- 
vince, and approved by the Lieutenant-Governor, was 
forwarded to the Secretary of State for the Colonies in 
April, 1890. It describes the working of the " Scott " 
Act up to that date, and distinguishes, it will be 
noticed, between its success in the rural districts and 
its less successful enforcement in the towns: — "The 
Committee have to remark that in some portions of 
the Province the Canada Temperance Act, 1878, has 
been brought into operation and has been in force for 
several years. The Committee are of opinion that in 
communities where there is a strong public sentiment 
in favour of the Act it has worked well, and has 
lessened in a marked degree the evils resulting from 
drinking in taverns. This is true more particularly of 
country districts. In the larger towns and cities the Act 
has not been so well enforced^ and the Committee think 
it cannot be truthfully said that very beneficial results 
have, as a general rule, followed its adoption in such 
cities and towns, though undoubtedly an exception 
must be made in the case of one or two towns where 
the Act has been quite rigidly and successfully en- 
forced."^ The Report of the Royal Canadian Com- 



issued a notice requesting illicit sellers in the town to close 
their bars on that date." 

The following is a copy of the notice which appeared in the 
Moncton " Times " on July 11th, 1892 :— 
" Caution." 
" All proprietors of bar-rooms are notified to close their re- 
spective places of business on Tuesday, July 12th. 

" CHAELES FOSTEE," 

" Police Marshal." 
1 Parliamentary Return (C.-6,670), 1892. 



LOCAL OPTION 343 

missioners, publislied a few years later, is less favour- 
able.i 

The Province is, however, so distinctively rural, and 
contains so few towns of even moderate size, that its 
experience can only be of limited value to this country. 
Eight-tenths of its population in 1891 lived in rural 
parishes (i.e. in places other than villages, towns or 
cities having 1,500 or more inhabitants). 



MANITOBA 

T> ^ L' /I om \ No. of Persons 

Population (1891). p^^ gq^^^^ ^-^^^ 

152,506 ........ 2 

Distribution of Population at the last census (1891). 
77 per cent, lived in rural districts other than villages, towns, etc. 
6 „ „ villages and towns of 1,500 to 5,000 inhabitants. 

17 „ ,, Winnipeg, population, 25,600. 

The Provincial Liquor Law (sections 51 and 52) 
provides that any city, town, or other municipality 
may pass a bye-law prohibiting licences within its 
limits. Such bye-law is to be submitted to a vote of 
the electors of the municipality upon petition of 
twenty-five per cent, of the resident electors. Three- 
fifths of the electors have to vote in favour of the 
bye-law to give it effect. Prohibitory bye-laws are 
in force in two towns (Birtle, population, 338, and 
Neepawa, population, 774) and eight rural munici- 
palities at the present time. Both of these towns and 
four of the rural municipalities are, however, included 
in the two counties which have adopted the " Scott " 
Act. In these two prohibition counties there are, 
according to the last census returns, eight towns, 

^ See Report of the Royal Canadian Commissioners, vol. v. 
p. 91. 



344 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

seven of whicli liave populations ranging from 338 to 
950, and one a population of 3,363. 

The entire Province contained but fifteen towns and 
cities at tlie last census, of wliicli teji had less than 
1,000 inhabitants ; twohom. 1,000 to 1,600 inhabitants; 
two from 3,000 to 3,800 inhabitants; and one (Win- 
nipeg) 25,600 inhabitants. 

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND 

Population (1891). ^^I^r^.. 

109,078 54 

Distribution of Population at tlie last census (1891). 
87 per cent, lived in rural districts other tlian villages, towns, etc. 
3 „ „ villages and towns of 1,000 to 5,000 inhabitants. 

10 „ „ Charlottetown, population, 11,300. 

Prince Edward Island is the smallest of all the 
Provinces, but it is more than twice as thickly popu- 
lated as any other Province. It had, however, but one 
town (or city) at the last census with a population 
exceeding 3,000. This was the capital (Charlottetown), 
which is the only place in the Province where licences 
are issued. 

BRITISH COLUMBIA 

T> 1 i-- /icni\ No. of Persona 

Population (1891) . per Sq^^^e Mile. 

98,173 0-3 

Distribution of Population at the last census (1891). 
57 per cent, lived in rural districts other than villages, towns, etc. 

5 „ „ villages, towns, etc., of 1,500 to 5,000 inhabitants. 

7 „ „ „ „ „ _ 5,000 to 10,000 

14 ,, „ Vancouver, population, 13,685. 
17 „ „ Victoria, „ 16,841. 

The liquor laws of this Province are too complicated 
to be summarised here. In cities licences are granted 



LOCAL OPTION 345 

by a Board of Commissioners, composed of the mayor 
(or substitute), the police magistrate, an alderman, and 
two justices of the peace chosen by the council. A 
very similar Board has charge of the licensing ar- 
rangements in township or district municipalities. 
Applications for new licences in cities must be signed 
by two-thirds of the lot owners and resident house- 
holders in the same block and in the block opposite, 
and also by their wives. Similar regulations exist in 
respect of new licences in smaller places. 

The holders of licences issued prior to 1891 are not 
required to make application for a renewal of their 
licences. 

There appears to be little or no prohibition in 
British Columbia.^ 



NORTH-WEST TERRITORIES 

Population (1891). p^^S^^lrS. 

98,967 0-2 

Distribution of Population at the last census (1891). 

94 per cent, lived in rural districts other than villages, towns, etc. 

6 ,, „ villages and towns of 1,500 to 5,000 inhabitants. 

The population in these districts is so small and at 
the same time so widely scattered as to make detailed 
reference to them almost valueless. Prior to 1892 a 
strict prohibitory law was in force in order to prevent 
alcohol from reaching the Indians. The development 
of the Canadian Pacific Eailway in the eighties 

^ The Provincial Secretary, in response to a request for a list 
of " no licence " towns (if any) in the Province, stated (October 
27th, 1899) :— 

" In reply I have to inform j^ou that no Act respecting the 
prohibition of the sale of intoxicating liquors is in force within 
the Province of British Columbia." 



346 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

brouglit a much larger number of white settlers into 
the territories, with the result that in 1892 the pro- 
hibitory system was abandoned and a system of high 
licence and local option was substituted. 



CONCLUSION 

It will thus be seen that in Canada, as elsewhere, 
prohibition is practically confined to certain rural 
districts. In respect of these (which include, in the 
aggregate, a considerable proportion of the total popula- 
tion) the general success of the policy is unquestion- 
able, but it contributes little or nothing to the solution 
of the problem in the towns. 

That this fact has not failed to impress itself upon 
the public mind is evident from the fact that while in 
the recent plebiscite in Canada the rural districts 
polled large majorities in favour of national prohibi- 
tion, most of the principal towns and cities gave an 
emphatic negative to the proposal. In referring to 
this vote in an article published in the Alliance News^ 
November 4th, 1898, Mr. F. S. Spence, the Secretary 
of the Dominion Alliance, said: — "As was expected, 
a majority of the cities and the largest towns, the 
strongholds of the liquor traffic, voted ' No.' There 
are exceptions. Halifax, St. John, Brantford, Winni- 
peg, and some other large towns voted ' Yes,' but as a 
rule the urban constituencies went against Prohibi- 
tion. The partly rural constituencies of Victoria, 
B.C., Lincoln, and East York owed their ' No ' majori- 
ties entirely to votes in the cities of Victoria, St. 
Catharines, and Toronto respectively. The voting 
strength of the Prohibitionists is greatest in agricultural 
districts^ and in the villages and smaller towns " 



LOCAL OPTION 347 

LOCAL OPTION IN AUSTRALASIA 
(including New Zealand) 

No. of Persons 
Population (1898). per Square Mile. 

4,437,900 1-44 

In most of tlie Australasian Colonies tlie principle 
of local option is directly or indirectly recognised. 
The recognition is, however, by no means so complete 
as in the case of Canada or the United States. The 
particulars can best be given for each colony sepa- 
rately. 

NEW SOUTH WALES 

No. of Persons 
Population (1898). per Square Mile. 

1,335,800 4 

Distribution of Population in 1898. 
Metropolitan.! Country.^ 

32 per cent. 68 per cent. 

Local option in this colony applies only to new 
licences and '^ removals." The law provides that in 
every municipality a local option vote shall be taken 

* The metropolis is composed of Sydney (population 98,000) 
and its suburbs. The suburbs of Sydney comprise forty dis- 
tinct municipalities, of which one contained (January 1st, 1898) 
less than 1,000 inhabitants ; seventeen from 1,000 to 5,000 in- 
habitants ; ten from 5,0(X) to 10,000 inhabitants ; ten from 
10,000 to 20,000 inhabitants; and two from 20,000 to 28,000 
inhabitants. The incorporated area in the metropolitan district 
is about 142 square miles. Some of the more immediate sub- 
urbs are more densely populated than the city itself. 

^ The country districts include 142 boroughs and municipal 
districts, with a total population of 340,000 (or thirty-eight per 
cent, of the total country population). These country boroughs 
and municipalities are, for the most part, very small. In 1898 
thirty-three had less than 1,000 inhabitants ; soventj'-six from 



348 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

every three years, at the election for aldermen, when 
the ratepayers are permitted to vote either ''Yes " or 
"No" on two questions: (1) Whether any new pub- 
licans' licences shall be granted, during the coming 
three years, in the municipality or ward in ques- 
tion; and (2) whether any removals of publicans' 
licences shall be allowed within the same period. 
Over eleven-twentieths of the votes polled are re- 
quired to make the vote operative in the negative. 
The popular vote does not apply to hotels containing 
thirty rooms. 

Although the local option is taken triennially in 
every municipality or ward of a municipality, the 
year when it is taken is not the same for all. During 
the three years 1897-1899, votes were taken in 357 
municipalities, or wards of municipalities, on the two 
issues. The result of the elections was as follows : — 





New Licences. 


" Eemovals.'' 


In favour 


. 69 . 


. 145 


Against . 


. 283 . 


. 208 


Equal vote 


5 . 


4 



357 357 

Twelve per cent, of the metropolitayi municipalities 
or wards, and twenty- three per cent, of the country 
municipalities or wards, voted in favour of new 
licences. In the city of Sydney only one out of 
eight wards voted in favour of new licences. The 
total vote cast was extremely small, a large propor- 
tion of the electors taking no part in the elections. 

1,000 to 3,000 inhabitants; twenty-seven from 3,000 to 6,000 
inhabitants ; and tbe remaining six had populations ranging 
from 7,000 to 20,000 inhabitants. 



LOCAL OPTION 349 

Tlie Superintendent of Police in the metropolitan 
district (a district whicli is declared by the Inspector- 
General to afford '' a clear indication" of the operation 
of the law throughout the Colony) reported in 1893 as 
follows : — 

" The local option law ... is much too limited 
in its operation to afford a satisfactory test of the 
value of the principle ; but, considering that it has 
been the means of replacing a number of very in- 
ferior houses by buildings of a superior class, which 
are not much frequented by persons addicted to in- 
temperance, its operation has certainly been beneficial, 
and I am decidedly in favour of such an extension 
to the principle as would approximate to full local 
option."^ 

The District Licensing Inspector, in the same year, 
reported : — 

'' As a factor in the repression of drunkenness, I do 
not think the local option vote in this district has had 
any appreciable effect. It has certainly prevented the 
licensing of new hotels, except where buildings have 
been erected containing over thirty rooms in order to 
overcome the operations of the vote. Such houses, 
when licensed, have proved, in the majority of cases, 
perfect failures as residential hotels, the sale of liquor 
being the only trade done."^ 

The total number of publicans' licences granted in 
New South Wales in 1898 was 3,153, or one to every 
420 persons of the population. The number granted 
in the metropolitan district {i.e. Sydney and its 
suburbs) was 789, being one to every 530 persons of 
the population. 

^ Parliamentary Return, [0.-7,415.] 1894. 
2 Ibid, 



350 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

There are no towns in New South "Wales in which 
the sale of liquor is prohibited. 

VICTORIA 

No. of Persons 
Population (1898) per Square Mile. 

1,169,434 13 

Distribution of population in 1898. 
Urban.i Eural. 

56 per cent 44 per cent. 

In this Colony also there is only a limited form of 
local option. The law, which came into force in 1886, 
fixes the number of hotels or publichouses at one for 
every two hundred and fifty inhabitants up to the 
first thousand, and one for every full five hundred 
beyond one thousand. Where the existing number is 
greater than the statutory limit it can be reduced by 
a popular vote to that limit. In cases where the 
existing number is less than the number allowed by 
law it can be raised by the same process to the 
statutory limit. In no case, however, can the num- 
ber be reduced below or increased above the limit 
fixed by law. A poll can be taken upon petition of 
one-fifth of the electors in any district. Electors are 
allowed to vote either for (a) the existing number, or 
(b) the number fixed by the law, or (c) some number 

^ The urban population includes Greater Melbourne, wbicb 
comprises the area within a radius of ten miles from the centre 
of the City of Melbourne, and furnishes thirty-nine per cent, of 
the total population of the Colony; and the extra-metropolitan 
cities, towns, and boroughs which lie outside those limits. 
There are altogether thirty-six cities, towns, and boroughs in 
Victoria, of which three have less than 1,000 inhabitants ; six- 
teen from 1,000 to 5,000 inhabitants ; seven from 5,000 to 10,000 
inhabitants ; six from 10,000 to 20,000 inhabitants ; three from 
30,000 to 40,000 inhabitants ; and one (Melbourne City) 70,000 
inhabitants. 



LOCAL OPTION 35 1 

between. Tliat number is declared carried which, 
receives a majority of the votes cast.^ In cases where 
reduction is carried the houses to be closed are selected 
by the licensing court, which consists of a county 
court judge and two stipendiary magistrates. Com- 
pensation must be paid to the owners and occupiers of 
all houses from which licences are withdrawn.^ The 
compensation fund is raised from the Trade itself by 
means of (a) increased licence fees, (h) fines for in- 
fringements of the law, and (c) in cases of deficiency, 
a special tax upon liquor. The amount of compensa- 
tion to be paid is determined by two arbitrators, of 
whom one is the owner. If these cannot agree, a 
county court judge or police magistrate is nominated 
by them as umpire. Reduction has so far been 
effected in eleven districts, resulting in the closing 
of one hundred and seventy-three saloons at an 
average cost, by way of compensation, of £800. The 
compensation clauses of the Act are, however, so 
obnoxious to the temperance party in Victoria that 
no organized effort is now made to use the Act for 
purposes of reduction. 

The schedule of licences includes nine classes, and 
the fees range from £2 to £50, being based, in the 
case of taverns, on the annual assessment of the pre- 
mises. The licence fee for an inn or tavern assessed 
at £200 is £50. 

^ In cases where the votes are so scattered that no one num- 
ber secures a majority over all the others, the votes next above 
the statutory number are added to the statutory number until 
a majority is secured. 

^ This does not apply to grocers' licences. These may be 
reduced by the same process as ordinary saloons (the statutory 
limit being one for every full five hundred of the population), 
but no title to compensation is conferred. 



352 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

It is stated that there is only one district in 
Victoria where no licences are issued. This is 
Mildura, a thinly-peopled wine-growing district 
(population 2,000, area 4,564 square miles), where 
licences are prohibited by the veto of the original 
owner of the land. 



QUEENSLAND 

No. of Persons 
Population (1898). per Square Mile. 

493,704 0-74 

The law in this Colony grants full powers of local 
option. It provides that one-sixth of the electors of a 
ward or district can secure a direct vote upon one or 
all of three propositions : — 

(1) That the sale of intoxicating liquors shall be 

prohibited ; 

(2) That the existing number of licences shall be 

reduced ; ^ 

(3) That no new licences shall be granted. 

The Act requires a two-thirds majority for prohibi- 
tion, but a bare majority is sufficient to carry the 
second and third of the propositions. 

In a large majority of the cases where votes have 
been taken, the issue of new licences has been refused, 
but in no instance has prohibition been carried. There 
are no towns or districts in Queensland where the sale 
of alcoholic liquors is prohibited. 

^ It is provided under this option that the number shall not 
be reduced below two-thirds of the existing number. 



LOCAL OPTION 353 

SOUTH AUSTRALIA 

No. of Persons per 
Population (1898) .^ Square Mile. 

361,483 0-40 

Under tlie " Licensed Victuallers' Amendment Act, 
1891," each municipal corporation and each, district 
council in South Australia is constituted a local option 
district. The law provides that one-tenth of the resi- 
dent ratepayers of such district may petition the 
Governor in Council to cause a poll to be taken to 
determine : — (1) Whether any new licences shall be 
granted; or (2) "Whether the existing number shall 
be reduced.^ One-fourth of the whole number of rate- 
payers on the roll must record their votes in order to 
constitute a poll. Three years must elapse between 
any two elections. 

Compensation must be paid to the owners and 
occupiers of all houses other than those licensed after 
the passing of the Act, from which licences are with- 
drawn as a result of a popular vote. The exact 
amount of compensation to be paid is to be deter- 
mined by three arbitrators, one of whom may be 
appointed by the owner and occupier of the premises 
jointly, and the other by the district treasurer. The 
third arbitrator, who must be a magistrate, is nomi- 
nated by the other two. The basis of compensation 

* Including the Northern Territory. 

' Provided that in any local option district where the num- 
ber of publicans' licences exceeds five, it shall not be competent 
for the ratepayers at any poll to determine that the publicans' 
licences in such district shall be increased or decreased by 
more than one-third of the then existing number. And in any 
local option district where the number of publicans' licences 
does not exceed five, the number shall not be increased or de- 
creased at any poll by more than one. 

23 



354 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

must in all cases be the difference between the rental 
value of the premises as a licensed house and as an 
unlicensed house, from the time of the non-renewal of 
such licence until a period of fifteen years from the 
passing of the Act.^ 

The Act further provides for Sunday closing. 

The Commissioner of Police in Adelaide (which in- 
cludes two-fifths of the entire population of South 
Australia) in reporting on the Act to the Grovernor 
of the Colony in October, 1893, said : — " As far as I 
am aware the local option clauses of the Act, 
although tested in one or two instances, have not 
resulted in the closing of any public-houses. Perhaps 
the least satisfactory feature in connection with the 
working of the Act is in connection with the pro- 
visions respecting Sunday closing, which, especially 
during the hot months of the year, are frequently 
evaded." ^ There is said to be one " town " in South 
Australia under actual prohibition. This is the 
Moonta Mines Township. 



TASMANIA 

No, of Persons per 
Population (1898). Square Mile. 

172,981 6 

The licensing authority in Tasmania is a bench of 
nine magistrates, the police magistrate and mayor in 

^ The compensation is paid by the treasurer of the province 
out of the sums received for licence fees in the preceding finan- 
cial year. The law provides that " no refusal of the renewal 
of any licence as a consequence of any poll shall take effect 
until the amount or amounts awarded by the arbitrators shall 
have been paid to the person or persons entitled thereto." 

2 Parliamentary Return [0.-7,415], 1894. 



LOCAL OPTION 355 

cities, and the warden in municipalities being ex- 
officio members. The fee for a public-house licence is 
£25. There is no local option law on the statute 
book. The Agent-Greneral states (February 20th, 
1900) that, " apart from an occasional academical dis- 
cussion of the subject or the advocacy of the Tem- 
perance Party, the general attention given to it has 
not been great." 

Under the existing law the majority of the rate- 
payers of any neighbourhood may petition against 
the granting, transfer, or continuation of any licence, 
and it is imperative on the licensing bench to enter- 
tain such petition, if duly lodged with the clerk of 
the peace ten days prior to the hearing of the appli- 
cation. According to the Commissioner of Police, the 
convictions for the illegal sale of liquor by unlicensed 
persons have been confined for some years past to 
newly-formed mining centres where licensed houses 
had not been opened, and to Chinese camps at other 
mining districts. There is little or no illicit sale in 
other parts of the Colony. Some of the most beneficial 
provisions are those under which the sale or giving of 
liquor to persons who are addicted to habits of in- 
temperance may be prohibited. This power of pro- 
hibition may be exercised by justices or by superior 
officers of police, and has been resorted to in many 
cases to the great benefit of individuals and their 
families. 

A further clause in the law provides that no woman, 
except the wife of the landlord, may serve liquor after 
10 p.m. 

There is no town or district in Tasmania where the 
sale of liquor is prohibited. 



356 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



WESTERN AUSTRALIA 

No. of Persons per 
Population (1898). Square Mile. 

170,971 0-17 

Tlie rush to the Western Australian goldfields since 
1891 has given that colony the largest average annual 
increase of population during the decade.^ The popu- 
lation, however, is still exceedingly small, and, if we 
except the city of Perth, which contains 40,000 in- 
habitants, or nearly one-fourth of the entire popula- 
tion of the colony, is widely scattered. 

The fee for a publican's licence is £50 in Perth and 
Freemantle and £40 elsewhere. The licensing bench 
consists of the resident or police magistrate of each 
district, and two justices of the peace appointed by 
the Governor in Council. No landlord, owner, or part 
owner of any licensed house,^ nor anyone engaged in 
or interested in the sale of liquors, is eligible to sit as 
a licensing justice. The same disqualification applies 
to officers or agents of any society interested in pre- 
venting the sale of liquor. As a result of the rapid 
development of the gold-mining industry in this 
colony, and the consequent settlement of large popu- 
lations within the various mining areas, it was found 
necessary, in 1888, to introduce an Act to confer upon 
the warden of a goldfield the powers of a licensing 
bench, and to dispense with the necessity of applicants 
giving the notices required by the principal Act in 
settled districts. 

The only form of local option recognised in the law 

1 In 1881 the population was 29,708, and in 1891 49,782. 

2 This applies only to owners or part owners of houses situ- 
ated within the licensing district. 



LOCAL OPTION 357 

is the privilege set forth in Section 25 of the principal 
Act, where it is provided that petitions or memorials 
from hond fide ratepayers of the district in which ap- 
plication for any form of licence is made may be en- 
tertained by the bench, " and if it shall appear that 
a majority of the ratepayers in the neighbourhood of 
the house proposed to be licensed object to the grant- 
ing of such application, such licensing magistrates 
shall refuse to grant such application." ^ The de- 
finition of ''the neighbourhood" is left to the dis- 
cretion of the magistrates. 

A report forwarded by the Governor of the Colony 
(Sir W. C. F. Eobinson) to the Secretary of State for 
the Colonies in 1894, states that, '' although these 
powers of objection constitute what is practically a 
form of ' local option ' the course indicated with 
regard to the organised opposition of ratepayers is 
seldom or never adopted, though personal objections 
are frequently made by ratepaying members of tem- 
perance bodies, licensed persons and others in open 
Court, with more or less effect, according to the 
validity of the objections." ^ 

Licensed persons are forbidden to supply liquor 
to habitual drunkards or aboriginal natives of the 
Colony. 

There are no towns in Western Australia where the 
sale of liquor is prohibited. 

* The privilege of objection is likewise given to any ratepayer 
as well as to any corporate body by proxy. 
2 Parliamentary Return (0.-7,988), 1896. 



358 THE TEMPERANCE PROiBLEM 



NEW ZEALAND 

No. of Persons per 
Population (1898). Square Mile. 

743,463.1 7 

Distribution of Population. 
Boroughs.'^ Counties. 

44 per cent .... 56 per cent. 

The population of New Zealand is divided into 
counties and boroughs. The counties include all 
towns not constituted municipal boroughs. These 
rural " town districts " are, however, very small, only 
two of them (Stratford, population, 1,256 ; and Hamp- 
stead, population, 1,214) having 1,000 inhabitants. The 
boroughs also are for the most part exceedingly small, 
only six out of ninety-seven having more than 7,500 
inhabitants.^ 

The licensing laws in this Colony are extremely 
stringent. Brewing is lawful but not distilling, so 
that for spirits the Colony is wholly dependent upon 
importations. Licences for consumption on the pre- 

^ Exclusive of 39,000 Maoris. 

^ Of the 97 boroughs in New Zealand : — 

27 have less than 1,000 inhabitants. 

28 „ from 1,000 to 2,000 „ 
12 „ „ 2,000 „ 3,000 

15 „ „ 3,000 ,, 5,000 „ 

y ,, ,, o,uuu ,, ^,5uu ,, 

1 (Napier) has 9,400 „ 

1 (Sydenham) „ 11,000 „ 

1 (Christchurch) „ 18,000 „ 

1 (Dunedin) ,,23,500 „ 

1 (Auckland) „ 36,000 „ 

1 (Wellington) „ 43,000 „ 

97 



LOCAL OPTION 359 

mises (excluding New Zealand wine licences) are of 
two kinds : — 

1. Publicans' licences, the fee for wliicli is £40^ 

within the limits of a borough or town 
district, and £25 outside. 

2. Accommodation licences, which are of the 

nature of a publican's licence, and are 
granted for an out-of-the-way country house 
which is situated at least five miles from any 
other licensed house. The licence fee in this 
case is determined by the Licensing Com- 
mittee, but must not exceed £20. 

Anyone may manufacture wine, perry, or cider from 
New Zealand grown fruit, and sell it, without a 
licence, in quantities of not less than two gallons. A 
licence to sell such native wine, etc., in quantities of 
less than two gallons for consumption on or off the 
premises is granted in boroughs only for a fee of £1. 
No sales of liquor can be made in clubs unless a special 
charter has been obtained from the Secretary of the 
Colony. An annual fee of £5 must be paid for 
such charter. It is said that since 1893 no new charter 
has been granted. 

The licensing authority is a committee of five per- 
sons chosen by the electors of each licensing district. 
A local stipendiary magistrate acts as chairman. The 
members of the licensing committee serve for three 
years. By the Act of 1893, each parliamentary elec- 
toral district, of which there are sixty-two, is made a 
licensing district. The number of ''on" licensed 
houses (exclusive of native wine licences) in New 

* For licence to sell from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. For an eleven 
o'clock licence an additional £5 must be paid. 



36o THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

Zealand in 1897-8 was 1,526, or one for every 476 
persons of the population.^ 

Full powers of local option are conferred. The 
original Act (passed in 1893) provided for a licensing 
poll to be taken in every district at the triennial 
election of the licensing committee, but under the 
Amendment Act of 1895 it is provided that the licens- 
ing poll shall be taken at the same time as the general 
election of members of the House of Representatives. 

The questions for the decision of the voters are : — 

(1) Whether the number of licences existing in the 

district shall continue ? 

(2) "Whether the number shall be reduced ? 

(3) Whether any licences whatever shall be 

granted ? 

The voter may vote for one or two of these proposals, 
but no more. 

Any man or woman who is twenty-one years of age 
and who has resided in the Colony for twelve months, 
is entitled to be registered as a voter. More than forty 
per cent, of the electors are women. 

In the case of either of the first two proposals {i.e. "con- 
tinuance" or ''reduction"), a number of votes equal 
to an absolute majority of all the voters whose votes 
were recorded is sufficient to carry the proposition into 
effect ; but in the case of the third proposal (" no 
licence ") the number of votes cast in its favour must 
be not less than three-fifths of all the voters whose 

^ Tlie proportion in counties and boronglis was as under: — 
Counties . . . 849, or one for every 469 persons. 
Boroughs ... 677 „ „ 487 „ 

Tor a comparison with England and Wales, see p. 669. 



LOCAL OPTION 361 

votes were recorded. If no proposal is carried by the 
prescribed majority, things continue as before.^ In 
no case is compensation allowed for the loss of a 
licence. The original Act, which governed the first 
election in 1894, required that to make the election 
valid, at least one-half of the voters on the register 
must take part in the election. The effect of this was 
largely to destroy the value of that election as an 
indication of public sentiment on the question, 
inasmuch as large numbers of anti-vetoists deliber- 
ately abstained from voting, with the result that 
thirty-three out of sixty-two elections were declared 
to be invalid. The law was wisely amended by the 
repeal of this clause in 1895. ^ 

Three elections have been held on the question since 
the first Act was passed, but in only one district 
(Clutha) has " no licence " been carried. In 1894, re- 
duction was carried in fourteen districts and "no 
licence " in one, while in thirty-three districts the 
election, for reasons shown above, was declared invalid. 
At the second election in 1896, fifty-two districts gave 
a majority in favour of continuance, while in the 
remaining ten no proposal was carried. The district 
of Clutha, which had given a three-fifths majority in 
favour of ''no licence" in 1894, failed to secure the 
requisite majority for prohibition in 1896, owing to a 
re-arrangement of boundaries. It nevertheless polled 
a larger number of votes in favour of "no licence " 

^ If both prohibition and reduction are carried, prohibition 
takes precedence. Similarly, if both continuance and reduction 
are carried, reduction takes precedence. Reduction must aifect 
not less than five per cent., nor more than twentj^-five per cent, 
of the existing number of licences. 

^ In 1894 the votes for " reduction " and " no licence " could be 
added together to secure reduction, but that is no longer possible. 



362 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

than for either " continuance " or "reduction."^ In 
three other districts also (Marsden, Hawera, and Bruce) 
a majority of those who polled voted in favour of pro- 
hibition, but not the necessary three-fifths required to 
carry that issue. 

The third election under the Act took place in 
December, 1899, when forty-five districts voted in 
favour of continuance ; one in favour of reduction ; 
one (Clutha) carried " no licence " ; while in twelve 
districts no proposaal was carried, and in three the 
election was declared void. ^ 

The district of Clutha is therefore the only " no 
licence " district in New Zealand. It is a sparsely 
peopled district, and contains but two boroughs, one 
of which (Balclutha) has 925 inhabitants, and the other 
(Tapanui) has 450 inhabitants. 



It will thus be seen that while the principle of local 
option has received more or less limited sanction in 
Australasia, it has not led to any important results in 
prohibition. (See summary, p. 363.) 

LOCAL OPTION IN SWEDEN 
AND NORWAY 

The nature and extent of local option in Sweden and 
Norway are fully described elsewhere.^ 

* The actual figures were as under : — 

Continuance. Reduction. No Licence. 

1,618 1,630 1,989 

2 In eleven districts the number of votes cast in favour of " no 
licence " was greater than the number cast for either '' continu- 
ance " or "reduction" but in all of them it fell short of the 
requisite majority. ^ See Chapter VIII. 



LOCAL OPTION 



363 




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364 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

LOCAL VETO IN THE UNITED KINGDOM 

There are, of course, numerous instances of successful 
local prohibition in the United Kingdom, and while 
the majority of these consist of villages which owe 
their immunity from the liquor traffic to the ordinance 
and foresight of the local " squire," there are others 
which furnish useful suggestions of the possibilities of 
permissive legislation in the suburbs and wards of large 
cities. Among these may be mentioned the Toxteth 
Park Estate in Liverpool (population 60,000) ; the 
Shaftesbury Park Estate, Battersea (population 7,600) ; 
the Queen's Park Estate, Kensal Grreen (population 
14,420) ; the Noel Park Estate, Wood Green (population 
9,100) ; and others.^ In these cases, it is true, there is 
no "option," inasmuch as the prohibition of the traffic 
is due to restrictions imposed by the owners of the 
estates ; but the favourable regard in which the 
restriction is popularly held is sufficiently indicated by 
the eagerness of respectable working men and others 
to rent houses in the prohibited areas. Further, there 
is ample evidence that in these districts the system of 
restriction has operated beneficially so far as the local 
communities are concerned. But prohibition, it must 
be remembered, is successful in these districts precisely 
because their close proximity to non-prohibition areas 
offers abundant facilities for the purchase of liquor to 
those of their population who desire to have it.^ 

* Bessbrook, Ulster, is a familiar illustration of prokibition in 
a busy, prosperous village. The nearest public-house is on a 
country road a mile and a half away, and the next nearest is in 
the village of Cawlough, some two or three miles distant, where 
there are several public-hoases. 

^ It must also be borne in mind that " the undoubted success 
of experiments in local prohibition by ground landlords depends 



LOCAL OPTION 365 

Toxteth ParT{^ Liverpool. 

The districts commonly referred to as Toxteth Park,^ 
Liverpool, may be taken as an illustration of this. 
The prohibited districts comprise a considerable area, 
covered by some 11,000 or 12,000 houses, and including 
a population of about 60,000 persons, composed for the 
most part of respectable working-class families and 
clerks. The population of the district is, however, far 
from being composed exclusively of teetotalers,^ and 
the wants of the non-abstainers are fully met by the 
facilities offered for the purchase of liquor by a " con- 
siderable number " of licensed houses in the districts 
which immediately adjoin the prohibited areas. As 
Mr. W. Crosfield, J.P., put it in his recent evidence 
before the Eoyal Commission on Liquor Licensing 
Laws : " I am bound to say that with a very little 
trouble from the centre of that area [Kensington 
Fields] an unlimited quantity of refreshments could be 
obtained from the houses which have been in existence 
for a great many years. "^ 

very mucli on the more absolute power which they possess to 
enforce observance of their wishes. A simple clause in a lease 
is a more effective weapon than any local veto law." Lord 
Peel, Minority Report of the Royal Commission on Liquor 
Licensing Laws, p. 274. 

^ What is known as Toxteth Park is really an extra-parochial 
district of Liverpool. It was formerly a park, but is now simply 
a section of the city. 

^ " With regard to the restricted area, you do not in any way 
suggest that those who live in this area are in anj^ way 
abstainers more than in the usual area?" — ''Oh, no, I am sorry 
to say not." — Evidence of Mr. W. Crosfield, J.P., Royal Com- 
mission on Liquor Licensing Laivs, vol. II. (1897), p. 33. 

3 Ibid, p. 24. 



366 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

Queen's ParJc^ Kensal Green. 

The case of Queen's Park, Kensal Green, furnishes a 
similar illustration. The estate comprises an area of 
seventy acres, covered by some 2,300 houses, occupied 
for the most part by artisans and clerks. There are 
no licensed houses within this area, but there are 
public-houses in the districts immediately adjoining, 
and — according to the evidence of the Rev. Sidney 
Bott, vicar of St. Jude's, Kensal Green, and a warm 
supporter of local prohibition — there is "a constant 
effort to get more." In addition to these it was stated 
by the same witness that within a small radius com- 
prising about 300 houses there are no fewer than nine 
" off" licences, three of which are " at the very gates " 
of the prohibited area, and "others as near as they 
could get." Asked how he could explain the existence 
of so many "off" licences in a comparatively poor 
district, he replied : '^ You forget that there are these 
2,300 houses close by without any public-house. The 
custom comes from Queen^s ParTc^^ 

Now it is clear that where there is this safety-valve 
in the shape of neighbouring facilities for the purchase 
of liquor by those who are accustomed to use it, pro- 
hibition in limited urban areas {e.g. wards and suburbs 
of large cities) may be successfully attempted ; and it 
is not unlikely that if permissive legislation were 
granted, many districts of this character would gladly 
avail themselves of its powers. But it is impossible to 
believe that in the present state of public opinion a 
complete prohibitory policy could be successfully 

* " Then you say the restriction of the public-house has pro- 
duced these oE licences?" — "I do grant you that." — Boyal 
Commission on Liquor Licensing Laws, vol. III., p. 205. 



LOCAL OPTION 367 

adopted in any important town or city. To admit 
this, however, is not to suggest that the widespread 
and practically unrestricted sale of liquor as at present 
conducted in the larger towns and cities must continue. 
On the contrary, it should certainly be possible, while 
permitting the continuance of such traffic as public 
opinion demands, to safeguard the conditions under 
which it is conducted, and to reduce to a minimum the 
evils that at present are associated with the trade. 
How this is to be done the present writers hope to 
show in a later chapter.^ 



CGlSrCLUSION. 

To sum up. The facts that have now been adduced 
indicate the successful operation of a permissive policy 
of prohibition throughout wide districts in the United 
States and Canada. It is a policy that has been 
initiated and supported by self-governing communities, 
and the experience of many years enables trustworthy 
conclusions to be formed as to the sphere of its success. 
That sphere is uniformly found to be the rural districts, 
and certain suburban areas where there is the '' safety- 
valve " of neighbouring facilities for the purchase of 
liquor. The problem to be solved is, of course, much 
simpler in the rural districts, and the obstacles to be 
encountered in the enforcement of the law are few and 
unimportant. But the broad fact remains that in the 
rural districts of the United States, as also elsewhere 
{e.g. Canada, Sweden, and Norway), popular sentiment 
is generally on the side of the restriction and pro- 
hibition of the liquor traffic, and enforcement of the 

1 See Chapter IX. 



368 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

law is found to be comparatively easy. In tlie larger 
towns and cities tlie conditions are different, and it is 
there, as we have seen, that prohibition has been found 
impracticable. The failure is the more significant in- 
asmuch as Temperance sentiment in the United States 
and Canada is far in advance of Temperance sentiment 
in this country, and consequently the conditions are, 
by so much, rendered more favourable for the experi- 
ment. It is evident, therefore, that a system that has 
proved ineffectual in urban communities there, is not 
likely to prove successful in the larger and more 
densely populated towns and cities of the United 
Kingdom. 

The present writers believe that the principle of 
prohibition by local option has a distinct place in the 
ultimate solution of the temperance problem, and one, 
moreover, that can only be finally determined by ex- 
perience. But they are profoundly convinced that, so 
far as the towns and cities are concerned, the policy of 
prohibition can have but limited application, and that 
for a complete solution of the problem resort must be 
had to other methods. 

The history of the experiment in those countries or 
states that have adopted it points in the judgment of 
the present writers to the following broad conclusions : — 

(1) That prohibition, whether by State enactment 

or local option, cannot be a universal panacea, 
and that when it has done all that it can do 
there will still be a large volume of trade in 
alcoholic liquors left outside its scope. 

(2) That it will have a large measure of success in 

rural districts, and will possibly succeed in 
some small towns. 



LOCAL OPTION 369 

(3) That it will further succeed in wards or suburbs 

of cities where there is a ''safety-valve" in 
the shape of neighbouring facilities for the 
purchase of liquor. 

(4) That, consequently, the practical question, so 

far as the town populations of this country 
are concerned, is the best form of '' safety- 
valve," taking all necessary considerations, 
such as the need for destroying the political 
domination of the " Trade," and its un- 
ceasing opposition to temperance reform, 
fully into account. 

In any case, it must be insisted that a policy of 
permissive legislation that left undisturbed the pre- 
sent monopolist character of the permitted trafHc 
{i.e. as conducted for private gain) would fail in the 
first essentials of reform. It would leave unremedied 
the evils that are inseparable from such a traffic in 
those communities that refused to adopt prohibitory 
legislation ; and would unite the forces of a powerful 
monopoly in unscrupulous hostility to the law in dis- 
tricts that were favourable to its enforcement. Clearly, 
therefore, the plea for permissive legislation must be 
accompanied by satisfactory proposals for the conduct 
of the traffic that would remain, and those proposals 
must carry within themselves ample security for the 
elimination of the influence of the liquor traffic from 
municipal and political life. 



24 



CHAPTER V 
High Licence 

This chapter (from p. 373 onwards) has been recast and ex- 
tended for the present edition in the light of new information 
obtained in the course of personal investigations in the summer 
of 1899. 

THE sclieme of licensing known as High Licence lias 
claimed great attention in recent years, and has 
been adopted in many States of the Union, among others 
in Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Pennsylvania, 
Nebraska, and 'New York. The system came to the 
front in Nebraska in 1881 by the passing there of the 
'' Slocumb Law," which fixed the State licence fees at 
not less than $500 for saloons in small towns, and not 
less than double tjiat amount where the population 
exceeded 10,000, together with a bond for 5,000 dollars. 
The most conspicuous instances of its working are, 
however, to be found in Pennsylvania, where the 
Brooks' Licensing Act came into force on June 1st, 
1888, and in New York State, where the '' Liquor Tax 
Law," commonly known as the "Eaines Excise Law," 
was enacted in 1896. 

HiaH Licence in Pennsylvania. 
The leading provisions of the Brooks' Act are as 
follow: — (1) That the granting of licences shall be 
left in the hands of the Court of Quarter Sessions, 
which shall issue whatever number it may deem 
necessary, with full power to revoke any, or all, at 
the end of each twelve months. (2) That each licensee 
shall pay a fee of from 1,000 dollars (£200) down- 

370 



HIGH LICENCE 



371 



wards, according to the size of the town or city in 
which he carries on his trade. (3) That besides his 
giving a personal bond for 2,000 dollars (£400), two 
owners of real estate, living in the immediate neigh- 
bourhood, shall also become bondsmen to the same 
amount each as sureties for his strictly keeping the 
law. To these clauses are added the prohibitions 
usual in most of the States against selling on Sun- 
days, or election days, or to minors or intoxicated 
persons. As a result of the passing of the Act, the 
number of licensed houses in Philadelphia^ was re- 
duced from 5,773 in 1887 to 1,343 in 1888. This 
enormous reduction was made without any compensa- 
tion being paid. The following table, compiled from 
particulars specially obtained from the Police Depart- 
ment of Philadelphia, shows the number of licences 
issued in Philadelphia from 1887 to 1898, together 
with the arrests for drunkenness and other offences :— 



Descbiption". 


Before 

High 

Licence 


High Licence. 


Licences issued 




1887 
5,773 


1888 


1889 


1890 


1891 


1892 


1893 


1894 


1895 


1896 


1897 


1898 


1,343 


1,204 


1,173 


1,253 


1,388 


1,632 


1,662 


1,677 


1,662 


1,638 


1,691 


Ratio of 


\ 


























estimated 
population to 
each licence 




169 


744 


849 


893 


855 


790 


686 


688 


696 


717 


742 


733 


Ai-rests for 
drunkenness 


} 


34,037 


24,923 


20,097 


24,661 


24,785 


26,194 


28,095 


28,230 


27,077 


23,107 


25,174 


27,543 


Ratio per 1,000 
of estimated 
population 


} 


34-93 


24-96 


19-60 


23-56 


2314 


23-91 


25-10 


24-68 


23-19 


19-39 


20-70 


22-21 


Arrests for all 
offences 


! 


57,944 


46,899 


42,673 


49,148 


53,184 


52,944 


57,297 


61,478 


60,347 


58,072 


62,628 


62.907 


Ratio per 1,000 
of estimated 
population 


1 


59-46 


46-96 


41-72 


46-94 


49-65 


48-34 


5118 


53-76 


51-68 


48-72 


51-50 


50-72 



^ The estimated population of Pliiladelpliia in 1899 was 
1,240,266. 



372 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

Yet, rLotwitlistanding the reduced number of saloons, 
tlie revenue from fees showed a decided increase. Be- 
fore the passing of the Act the licence fees in Philadel- 
phia amounted to 300,000 dollars ; in 1898, with 4,082 
fewer licences, the fees amounted to 1,692,112 dollars. 

The advantages claimed for high licence are, briefly: 
First, the extinction of a great number of the worst 
and lowest dram-shops. Second, better police control, 
owing to the diminution of numbers, and the con- 
centration (to some extent) of the trade in the business 
centre of the town, where it is most profitable. Third, 
better observance of the law by licence-holders from 
fear of the pecuniary loss involved in the forfeiture 
of their licences. Fourth, suppression of unlicensed 
liquor-sellers by the licensed, as an act of self-protec- 
tion.^ 

Experience has shown that some of these contentions 
are just ; but in Philadelphia, at least, the suppression 
of unlicensed liquor-sellers by the licensed is not 
realized.^ A policeman having an intimate acquaint- 

* Fanshawe, Liquor Legislation in the United States and 
Canada, p. 64. 

^ There are, however, some places in the State of New York 
(whicli is under High Licence) in which the liquor dealers as- 
sist in the enforcement of the law. In his Annual Eeport for 
the year ending September 30th, 1899, the State Commissioner 
of Excise of the State of New York says : — 

" Liquor dealers themselves, who have large interests in the 
trade, have in some instances given valuable assistance to the 
authorities in compelling observance of the law. "Within a 
year, in one large city in the State, nearly all of the brewers 
and many dealers united in a request that all liquor dealers of 
that .city be compelled to observe the provisions of the law. 
. . . Little or no trouble [in the enforcement of the law] has 
been met with from reputable and responsible dealers. Their 
traffic is open and legitimate. They obey the statutes, wanting 



HIGH LICENCE 373 

ance witli all sections of the city, questioned as to the 
number of " speak-easies" (that is, unlicensed saloons), 
replied unhesitatingly, '' There are at least six thou- 
sand." " "While this statement must be regarded as 
exaggerated, it is beyond doubt that the illegal places 
exceed by not a little the number of licensed retailers." 
It may, however, be fairly urged that the ''speak- 
easies" are mainly a re-action against Sunday Closing, 
not against High Licence. Most of the illegal ven- 
dors, it is said, restrict their business to the Sunday 
hours, and carry it on in private houses.^ In Pitts- 
burg, Mr. McKenzie says that, under High Licence, 
there were in 1891 probably seven ''speak-easies" to 
each licensed house. " These places were permitted 
to exist because of the political power of their owners, 
and the police did not dare proceed against them." ^ 



The Liquoe Tax (" Eaines ") Law of the State 
OF New Yokk. 

Population (1890) of State of New York— 5,997,853. 
In 1890 there were in the State of New York 46 cities or 
towns with a population of 8,000 and upwards, viz. : — 



no special favours from any source, and only asking that the 
law be fairly and impartially administered that they may be 
protected against the illegitimate competition of crooked dealers. 
Complaints made by this class of men have, as a rule, been well 
founded, and have resulted usually in conviction of the offender 
or suppression of the violation complained of." 

* The Liquor Problem in its Legislative Aspects, p. 251. 

* Sober by Act of Parliament, pp. 72, 73. 



374 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

New York 1 1,515,301 

Brooklyn 806,343 

Buffalo 255,664 

Eocliester 133,896 

3 cities or towns of 50,000 to 100,000 inhabitants 

5 „ „ 30,000 to 50,000 „ 

6 „ „ 20,000 to 30,000 „ 
28 „ „ 8,000 to 20,000 „ 



Proportion of Urban and Eural Population, 1890 : — 
Urban {i.e. populations above 8,000) 3,600,877, or 60 per cent. 
Eural 2,396,976, or 40 „ 



5,997,853 



The Liquor Tax ('' Eaines ") Law of the State of 
New York is one of high licence and local option. It 
was passed by the State legislature in March, 1896, 
and came into force May 1st of the same year, very 
substantial amendments in the Act being made in 
1897. It deals only with quantities of less than ^yq 
gallons of liquor, a term which, as here used, includes 
spirits, wine, and beer. The circumstances of the 
adoption of the measure by the House of Assembly 
are so unusual that they may be reproduced here. On 
the day after the BiU had passed the Senate, the 
Republican leader (Mr. O'Grrady) gave notice in the 
Assembly that, on the following day, he would move 
to suspend a certain number of Bills which he speci- 
fied, the practical effect of which would be to make it 
possible to pass the Bill into law on the same day. 
Accordingly, on March 12th, " the rules were sus- 

* In 1898 Brooklyn and some other places were added to the 
city of New York; its estimated population in 1899 was 3,550,053. 
The estimated population of the former city of New York in 
1899 was 2,117,106. 



HIGH LICENCE 375 

pended by practically a party vote, and then followed 
a scene which had never been witnessed in Albany 
before. It was known that the supporters of the Bill 
numbered more than eighty and less than ninety, a 
sufficient number to pass the measure but not enough 
to transact business by themselves, as the constitution 
provides that three-fifths of either House must be 
present while Bills are on their final passage. Eealis- 
ing this, the Democrats and Republicans opposed to 
the Bill commenced to slip out by ones and twos, in- 
tending to break the quorum. The majority leaders 
noticed the sharp practice, however, and Mr. O'Grady 
asked for a call of the House. The absentees came 
flocking in, and as soon as they were inside the doors 
were locked, and none of them were allowed out again. 
During the rest of the afternoon the Assembly men 
inside remained close prisoners, while the sergeant- 
at-arms and his assistant were busily scouring the 
corridors and committee-rooms in search of the absen- 
tees. "Whenever any were found they were taken 
back to the Assembly and escorted to their places, 
while a close watch was kept to see that they did not 
get away again. The Democrats raved wildly at such 
treatment, and at one time had almost decided to 
break down the door and get out any way, claiming 
that they had a perfect right to do so. The cooler 
heads among the minority, however, pointed out that 
while such a course might be justifiable yet it would 
only lead to further trouble, and would reflect upon 
the Democracy. This view of the case was accepted, 
and no violence was attempted. At six o'clock in the 
evening a vote was reached, and the Bill was passed 
by a vote of 84 to 58." ^ 

^ The Haines Excise Laio. Eagle Building, Brooklyn, New 
York. 



376 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

The Bill passed in this extraordinary manner in- 
volved '' a new and radical departure from the prin- 
ciple of local control " which for over 300 years had 
largely governed the treatment of the question in the 
State of New York.^ 

It abolishes all local boards having jurisdiction to 
issue licences for the sale of liquor, and places the 
whole matter under State supervision. 

At the head of the new administration is placed a 
" State Commissioner of Excise," appointed by the 
Governor of the State with the advice and consent of 
the Senate. The Commissioner is invested with large 
powers, and holds office for a term of five years. He 
appoints the whole of his administrative staff — secre- 
tary, deputy commissioners and special agents — whose 
number and salaries are, however, fixed by the Act. 
All officers appointed by the State Commissioner may 
be removed by him.^ 

The "excise taxes" issued are of six grades, of which 
the chief may be defined thus : — 

(1) For " on " sale, whether in hotel, restaurant, 

saloon, store, shop, or other place. 

(2) For " off " sale in quantities of less than five 

gallons. 

* First Report of the State Commissioner of Excise of the 
State of New York, 1896, p. 32. 

2 " The law centralises in an unprecedented manner tlie con- 
trol of the excise business in one man — the State Commissioner. 
He is left the sole interpreter of the intent and scope of the 
law. . . . Such power and authority have never before been 
vested in one man under the liquor laws of any of our States." — 
The Liquor Problem in its Legislative Aspects, Second Edition, 
1898, p. 374. 



HIGH LICENCE 



377 



(3) For sale by a duly licensed pharmacist upon 

tlie written prescription of a regularly licensed 
physician. 

(4) For sale upon any railway car, steamboat, or 

vessel. 

The annual excise taxes charged for the grades 
Nos. 1, 2, and 3 vary according to the size of the town 
in which the licence is issued. The charges are upon 
the following scale : — 



City, Town, or Village, with a population of 



1,500,000 or more 

Less than 1,500,000 but more than 500,000 
500,000 „ „ 50,000 

50,000 „ „ 10,000 

10,000 „ „ 5,000 

5,000 „ „ 1,200 

1,200 



Grade 


Grade 


No. 1 


No. 2 


"On" 


"Off" 


Sale. 


Sale. 


Dollars 


Dollars 


800 


500 


650 


400 


500 


300 


350 


200 


300 


100 


200 


75 


100 


50 



Grade 
No. 3 
Sale by 
Pharm- 
acist. 



Dollars 

100 
75 
50 
30 
20 
15 
10 



The excise tax under grade 4 is 200 dollars for each 
car, steamboat, or vessel upon which traffic is carried 
on. 

Subject to the adoption by any place (not a 
" city " ^) of local option, no limit is put upon the 
number of licences of any class that shall be issued, 
reliance being apparently placed upon the amount of 
the excise tax to furnish the needful check. Any one 
desiring to obtain a licence must submit a signed and 
sworn statement to the county treasurer or official 



* The Local Option Clauses, as is explained further on, do not 
apply to " cities." 



378 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

deputy commissiouer in wliicli shall be stated, among 
other less important matters, the facts as to his citi- 
zenship, the premises to be used, the specific location 
of the bar. He must also state that he has not been 
convicted of a felony, has not had a former licence 
revoked, and that he is not interested in any unlawful 
traffic or occupation. The deputy commissioner testi- 
fies to the formal correctness of such application, but 
appears to make no further inquiry. " All comers are 
practically served alike — -they pay the money and 
take the certificate." 

The Liquor Tax Law has not had a marked effect 
upon the number of licences issued. The figures for 
the last year of the old system and the subsequent 
years of the new are as under: — 

No. of No. of Certificates, year 

Licences. ending April 30th. 

1895-6. 1897. 1898. 1899. 

For the State of 
New York ... 33,257 30,156 31,116 31,598 

For the City of 
New York ... 8,906 7,926, 8,425 8,430^ 



* An analysis of the 8,480 Certificates issued in tlie City of New 
York in the year ending April SOtli, 1899, gives the following 

result : — 

7,227 certificates (86 per eent.) were under Grade 1, for " on" sale in hotels, 

saloons, etc. 
787 „ (9 per cent.) ,, ,, Grade 2, for " off" sale by store- 

keepers, etc. 
416 „ (5 per cent.) „ „ Grades 3 and 6, for sale by 

pharmacists and for 

8,430 mechanical and scien- 

" tific purposes. 

The proportion of the different grades in the State of New York 
corresponds closely with that in the City of New York. 



HIGH LICENCE 379 

The greater part of the reduction took place in the 
cities of New York, Brooklyn, and Buffalo, in which 
the excise tax was respectively 800, 650, and 500 
dollars.^ Nearly all the small beer and ale shops in 
the City of New York were driven out of business "by 
the sixteen-fold increase of the tax." ^ It is said that 
as a class these shops were the least obnoxious of all, 
and have so been regarded by students of social con- 
ditions. In twenty-five out of the sixty counties in 
the State, a larger number of licences were granted 
under the " Eaines " than under the old law. 

Arrests for Drunkenness. 

Even more than the ordinary uncertainty common 
to statistics of drunkenness attaches to those which 
might be used to indicate the effect of the Liquor Tax 
law upon drunkenness in the State and City of New 
York. The difficulty of the inquiry is set forth by 
the State Commissioner in his second report. 

In conversation he informed us that he did not 
think the law had had much effect upon drunkenness. 
The Chief of Police in Albany and in Buffalo spoke in 
the same sense, the latter holding that drunkenness 
had even increased in the last two or three years. At 
the same time the arrests for drunkenness throughout 
the State show some reduction after the passing of the 
law,^ and so also do those for the City of New York 
(where, however, a reduction had taken place prior to 
1896), as will be seen from the following table, which 

* First Report of State Commissioner of Excise, p. 232. 
2 The Liquor Problem in its Legislative Aspects, Second 
Edition, p. 385. 

^ The State Commissioner of Excise, in his Annual Report, 



38o 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



gives tlie arrests for drunkenness ^ in that city from 
1889 to 1899 :— 







Arrests 


Eatio 






for 


per 1,000 of 




Population. 


drunkenness. 


population. 


1889 


1,566,801 


29,234 . 


18-66 


1890 


1,612,559 


31,484 . 


19-52 


1891 


1,659,654 


34,681 


20-89 


1892 


1,708,124 


30,808 . 


18-03 


1893 


1,758,010 . 


28,690 . 


16-32 


1894 


1,809,353 . 


28,357 


15-67 


1895 


1,879,195 


31,978 


17-02 


18962 


1,934,077 


30,663 


15-85 


1897 


. 1,990,562 


. 28,723 


14-43 


1898 


. 3,438,8993 


. 46,170 


13-43 


1899 


. 3,550,053 


. 44,013 


. 12-40 



As has been pointed out, the value of comparative 
statistics of drunkenness is exceedingly small, but if 
these figures are compared with those for London it 
will be seen that the number of arrests per 1,000 of 
the population in the latter city is only about one- 
half of those in New York. The visible drunkenness 
in New York is much less than in London, but in the 

January, 1900, gives the following figures of tlie arrests for 

drunkenness in the State of New York : — 

" In 1895, Calendar year 81,893 

1896, Calendar year 78,095 

1897, First nine months 59,207 

1898, Fiscal year, ending September 30th, 1898 ... 72,571 

1899, Fiscal year, ending September, 30th, 1899 ... 69,993 
being a decrease as compared with the year 1895 of 11,900, or 
over fourteen per cent." 

^ The law requires arrests for simple drunkenness, but in New 
York, as elsewhere in America, arrests are only made for dis- 
turbance or absolute incapacity. 

2 The Liquor Tax Law came into force May 1st, 1896. 

^ First year of Greater New York, 



HIGH LICENCE 381 

former city the saloon-keeper will often detain those 
under the influence of liquor till they become sober. 
In the above table, 72 per cent, of those arrested were 
males and 28 per cent, females. The proportions in 
London (1898) were 61 per cent, males and 39 per 
cent, females. In New York, women, as a rule, do 
not frequent the ordinary saloon. In a few cases 
separate " ladies' entrances " are to be met with, but 
this appears to be a modern development. Drunken 
women are very rarely seen. 

The following regulations embodied in the Act are 
common to the liquor laws of many of the States : — 

(1) Liquor may not be sold or given to any minor 

under the age of eighteen years, nor to such 
minor for any other person. 

(2) Sunday closing is absolute. (For the general 

disregard of this law, see p. 385.) 

(3) Liquor may not be sold on the day of any 

general or special election within one-quarter 
of a mile of any voting place while the poll 
is open. 

(4) No girl or woman not a member of the family 

of the licence holder may serve or sell any 
liquor on the premises. (This rule, which 
obtains generally throughout the Union, is 
well observed in New York.) 

Local Option Clause.^ 

The Act provides that before any licences are issued, 
the will of the qualified electors in each ''town" 
(including townships in rural districts) shall be ascer- 

^ The Local Option Clauses do not apply to " cities " (Sec. 16 
of the Liquor Tax Law), of which there are 41 with populations 
varying from 8,000, upwards, and with a total population (1892 



382 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

tained by ballot. The four questions submitted to tlie 
electors in all the towns in the State are, whether they 
will or will not authorize — 

(1) Sale of liquor to be drunk on the premises. 

(2) Sale of liquor not to be drunk on the premises. 

(3) Sale of liquor by a pharmacist on physician's 

prescription. 

(4) Sale of liquor by hotel-keepers. 

The question is, in each case, decided by a bare 
majority of the votes polled ; but if the votes cast on 
the fourth question show a majority in the affirmative, 
a hotel licence is granted, even though a negative 
vote has been recorded against the first question. 

The same questions " are to be again submitted at 
the annual town meetings held in every second year 
thereafter, provided at least 10 per cent, of the electors 
request a resubmission of the question, by a written 
petition signed by them before a notary public." 

In the spring of 1897, 847 towns voted for the first 
time ; 62 in the spring of 1898 for the second time, 
and 33 towns voted in the fall of 1898. Of the 942 
towns in the State, 263 voted for no sales whatever.^ 

State Census) of 4,081,331. Teclinically, the word " city" in tlie 
United States implies "a municipality of the first class, 
governed by a mayor and aldermen, and created by charter. 
The requisite number of inhabitants varies from 1,000 up- 
wards." 
^ The exact voting of the 942 towns was as follows : — 

For no sales whatever 263 

For sales under all four propositions ... ... 361 

For sales by pharmacists and hotels only . . . 121 

For sales by hotels only 103 

For sales by pharmacists only ... ... 30 

The balance (divided variously upon the dif- 
ferent questions) being 64 

942 



HIGH LICENCE 3^3 

That in the State of New York, as elsewhere, Local 
Option finds its sphere in the rural districts is seen by 
an analysis of the populations of these 263 towns. 
The figures at the last census (1890) were as under : — 

54 towns had a population of less than 1,000 



133 „ 


)? )? 


1,000, and less than 2,000 


61 „ 


V 57 


2,000, „ 


„ 3,000 


9 „ 


V n 


3,000, „ 


„ 4,000 


B „ 


V 5 


4,000, „ 


„ 5,000 


1 town 


T> 1 


8,877 





263 



Prior to the passing of the Liquor Tax Law a pecu- 
liar system of indirect Local Option prevailed in the 
State of New York. In each town and small city the 
licensing power was wielded by a Board of Excise 
Commissioners of three members, chosen by popular 
vote — one member retiring and one new member 
being elected each year. The Board in every locality 
had absolute power to grant or refuse licences, and it 
was the constant aim of the temperance people to 
secure or retain control.^ 

The State Commissioner of Excise for the State of 
New York, in his third annual report ^ (1898) writes : 
"The radical difference between the present and old 
law upon Local Option seems to be very satisfactory to 
those who desire to take advantage of its provisions. 
Under the old law the privilege could be exercised 
only indirectly and by a vote which had no binding- 
force. The present law gives the electors the privilege 

^ Cydopcedia of Tem])erance and Prohibition (1891). 
2 p'. 26. 



384 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

of voting directly upon tlie various questions without 
having the propositions obscured or the results affected 
by the personality of candidates or their politics." 

In his annual report of January, 1900, in a section 
devoted to the "theory and results" of Local Option, 
the State Commissioner writes: " The workings of the 
so-called Local Option scheme, provided by Section 16 
of the present law, have been varied according to the 
circumstances in each town [township].^ ... A 
no-licence vote, upon the understanding that all duty 
of the electors is ended after casting a secret ballot in 
favour of prohibited or restricted traffic, in most in- 
stances results not only in depriving the State and 
locality of the revenue, but the town is liable to become 
a place of illegal traffic and disorderly conduct, which 
tends to the detriment of the public morals and to 
destroy respect for all law. Hence it seems desirable 
that a no-licence vote should be backed up by the 
determination on the part of the electors that the will 
of the majority, as expressed by ballot, should be 
respected as the law of the land until changed or modi- 
fied at a subsequent election, and that the local officers 
charged with the duty of enforcing the restrictions 
or prohibitions of the liquor traffic made applicable 
to the town as the result of a Local Option vote should 
have the active moral support of the people. Where, 
in towns voting for limited or no licence, the leading 
citizens have organized and declared boldly for law 
and order, the hands of the public officers have been 
so strengthened that the Liquor Tax Law has been as 

^ It is to be noted that the word '* town "is here used in the 
American sense, corresponding generally with our word " town- 
ship." The Local Option Clauses of the Act do not, it will be 
remembered, apply to " cities." 



HIGH LICENCE 3^5 

well observed and enforced in that community as any 
other law against crime." 

These extracts illustrate the familiar fact that 
Local Option is successful in the rural districts when 
supported by a strong and vigilant public opinion. 

Evasion of the Liquor Tax Law through the 
'^Eaines Law Hotels." 

"When it finally became settled that in order to sell 
liquor on Sundays with impunity it was only neces- 
sary to run an establishment having ten bedrooms,^ 
exclusive of those occupied by the family and servants, 
and facilities for serving a sandwich, the ''Raines 
Law hotels " sprang up like mushrooms. By Novem- 
ber, 1896, the police of New York City reported to a 
Senate committee, appointed to investigate the working 
of the new law, the existence of 2,378 liquor-selling 
hotels, of which 2,105 were stated to be offspring of 
the law, and the remaining 273 hond-fide hotels. In 
Brooklyn, the hotel list had swelled from thirteen 
to 1,474, and in other cities a similar condition pre- 
vailed.^ 

The President of the New York Police Commissioners 
informed us that there is no legitimate demand for 
these bogus hotels, and that to get back the money 
expended upon them the rooms are let for immoral 
purposes. This, the Commissioner said, was very 
general. The frequent connection between the social 
evil and the sale of drink in many cities of the State 
is unquestionable. At the present time the violation 
of the Sunday closing and early closing provisions of 

* In small towns and villages six bedrooms only are required. 
^ The Liquor Problem in its Legislative Aspects^ Second 
Edition, 1898, p. 369. 

26 



386 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

the Act is so general that the original raison cfetre 
for the " Raines Law hotels " no longer exists. They 
are, it is said, continued as a safeguard against 
eventualities. The rapid extension of clubs also 
threatened the working of the Act. Many men 
transformed their saloons into clubs, arranging with 
their customers to " distribute " drinks to them on 
Sundays and during prohibited hours. The extent of 
this flourishing and very profitable business is ap- 
parent from data furnished by the Secretary of State. 
From May 1st, 1896, to January 13th, 1897, he 
chartered 3,711 so-called clubs, as against 845 during 
the year May 1st, 1895, to May 1st, 1896.^ This 
abuse was, however, brought within narrow compass 
by an amendment of the Act passed in 1897, under 
which clubs had to take out the ordinary (grade No. 
1) certificate for an '' on " sale, which, in the city of 
New York, costs $800 (£160) a year. 

Chattel MoRTGAaES. 

The tied-house system exists on a large scale in the 
city of New York, but under a form differing from 
that with which we are familiar in this country. In 
the large towns of Great Britain the value of licensed 
premises is so enormous and the premises are so largely 
owned by brewers, that the publican is generally the 
tenant of a house owned by a brewer, and in that 
position is compelled to purchase his liquor from the 
owner of the house. Under the Raines Law, however, 
the licence is given to the man, not to the house, and 
as any one can obtain a licence by paying for it, the 
inflated monopoly values (as distinct from goodwill) 

^ The Liquor Problem in its Legislative Aspects, Second 
Edition, 370-71. 



HIGH LICENCE 387 

wliich obtain in this country are unknown in New 
York. But despite this difference, the saloon-keeper 
in New York city appears to be very much in the 
power of the brewer. We were informed by the Ex- 
cise Department of New York, and the statement was 
confirmed by the State Commissioner, that the 
brewers control seventy-five per cent, of the saloons in 
the city. The advances are made on a mortgage of the 
fixtures. These chattel mortgages are often associated 
with an assignment of the lease. The result of an 
examination^ of the chattel mortgages on saloon 
fixtures in New York city filed by brewers during the 
year 1897, as reported in the Real Estate Record and 
Guide, showed that 2,906 mortgages had been filed, 
amounting to $6,703,362 (£1,340,672).2 

Financial Results. 

The State Commissioner, in his first Annual Report, 
referring to the liquor traffic, said: — ^'Whatever 
phase the question assumed, or however the laws 
relating thereto have been changed, one feature seems 
to have been quite constant and one sentiment almost 
universal, viz. : That the traffic should contribute to 
the public revenue ; and the present law, in its pro- 
visions for regulating the trade, brings this feature 
into special prominence." Regarded from this stand- 
point, the success of the new law has been complete, 
as will be seen from the following table, which shows 

* The Liquor Problem in its Legislative Aspects^ Second 
Edition, 1898, p. 382. 

^ As Chattel Mortgages mature in twelve months, the total 
given must be taken to represent the total value of these 
Mortgages in existence at th© time this investigation was 
made. 



388 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

the net revenue received by the State of New York 
in {a) the last year of the old law, and (b) each of the 
three years during which the Liquor Tax Law has 
been in force. 

For the year ending OLD LAW. 

April 30, 1896 $2,919,693 (£583,919) 

LIQUOR TAX LAW. 

„ „ 1897 $10,665,747 (£2,133,149) 
„ „ 1898 $11,638,290 (£2,327,658) 
„ „ 1899 $11,648,956 (£2,329,791) 

Of the amount raised under the Liquor Tax Law 
one-third goes to the State and two-thirds to the 
towns and cities. It will be seen that under the opera- 
tion of the Liquor Tax Law the revenue to the State 
of New York rose in a single year from $2,919,593 to 
$10,665,747, and that the advance has been fully 
maintained. The annexed table shows the net revenue 
received by the City of New York in the last year of 
the old law and in each of the three years during 
which the Liquor Tax Law has been in force. 

For the year ending OLD LAW. 

April 30, 1896 $1,056,013 (£211,203) 

LIQUOR TAX LAW. 

„ „ 1897 $3,262,939 (£652,588) 
„ 1898 $3,621,821 (£724,364) 
„ 1899 $3,595,072 (£719,014) 

EeSULTS OF THE SySTEM. 

Three powerful factors necessarily influence the 
working of the Liquor Tax Law in the city of New 
York, viz. : — (1) the High Licence fee ; (2) the cen- 



HIGH LICENCE 389 

tralized administration (both of which are integral 
parts of the Act) ; and (3) the rule of Tammany, 
which affects the carrying out of the law. It is -^ 
easy to allot to each of these factors its ri^-^«^ 
bringing about results. 

The increased annual revenue (more ^li^ii £1,500,000) 
obtained by the State of New Yo^^^ nnder the new 
law is, of course, due to High Licence. The fact that 
such an additional sum wa^ obtained without any 
difficulty from the Trade ^ives some indication of the 
vastness of its profits Other claims put forward on 
behalf of High Licence receive little support from 
the experience oi the Eaines Law. It has been urged 
that the diead of losing a licence for which a high 
sum had heen paid would lead to a stT;it;t:er observance 
of the I.vW, In S^ew 'York the reverse appears to be 
the case. We were informed by the President of the 
Police Commissioners that " there can be no doubt that 
the High Licence fee makes for irregular practices." 
Mr. Robert Graham, Secretary of the Church Tem- 
perance Society, spoke in the same sense. " It 
certainly is not true," he said, " that High Licence 
secures greater attention to enforcement of bye-laws. 
High Licence puts a premium on low practices, as 
most saloons could hardly be made to pay without." 
The Hon. Frank Moss, ex-President of the Police 
Commissioners, also said that the high fees induced 
saloon-keepers to resort to low practices. 

Equally clear is the evidence that violation of the 
law is not followed by loss of licence. The universal 
disregard of the Sunday closing regulations is prob- 
ably due to their being unsupported by public opinion, 
but it cannot be said that public opinion supports the 
" low " and '' irregular practices " to which allusion 



390 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

has just been made.^ Again, it has been urged that 
High Licence would place the saloon (or public-house) 

..the hands of a superior set of men. The State 
■^^jier, however, in his report for 1898, says 
^' .- ^ is abO^^ ^^® same identical people who follow 
the c-rade undei' ^^is as under former laws." The 
President of the JJ^w York Police Commissioners also 
said that High Liceil^® ^^^ made no difference in the 
character, of the saloon- ]^®®P©^s. W® ^.re inclined to 
think that it might have ^one so but for the tied- 
house system. The saloon-keel^®^ '^^^ ^'^ ^^i^ of 
straw " under the old law, and he T^^niains such under 
the new. 

Dr. E. E. L. G-ould, whose opinion ^-^ ^^ S^®^^ 
weight, nargec that in estimating the results attending 
the operation of the Raines ±^Tf Vx. ]^q.^ Yoi 'J; — —^^ 
should be laid " upon the general effect of the Tam- 
many administration in letting loose evil forces upon 
the community." 

Since its introduction the system has had the advan- 
tage of the guidance of Mr. Henry H. Lyman, a 
strong and able man ; but whilst a highly centralized 
system thus administered may be the best thing 
possible when the body politic is in a bad state, the 
resulting benefits are purchased at a high price. The 
English reader may wonder why no statutory limita- 
tion is placed upon the number of licences that may 

* The enforcement of the bye-laws rests with the police; 
their neglect to suppress abuses appears to be due not so much 
to the corruption of the force by the saloon-keepers — although 
in the case of some of the worst houses the police are believed 
to be bribed — as to the direct influence of Tammany. That is 
to say, the liquor-sellers are expected to subscribe liberally to 
the Tammany election funds, and in return they obtain " pro- 
tection." 



HIGH LICENCE 391 

be taken out, but the reason is this : that to limit the 
number in any other way than through the automatic 
operation of a high fee, would be to introduce the 
principle of selection with all its possibilities of 
favouritism and corrupt influence. 

An examination of the annual Reports of the Com- 
missioners of Excise for the years preceding the E-aines 
Law shows that under the old law there was much 
honest effort to lessen the evils of intemperance. The 
old system, however, had many defects, and these were 
pointedly brought out by the State Commissioner in 
his first report (1896). He said : '' The liquor traffic 
of the State was subject to the application or mis- 
application of the law by 963 boards of excise, or 2,892 
different officials, with infinite variance in opinions 
and prejudices, to befriend or oppose it. Add to these 
the 964 attorneys, and an equal number of clerks for 
the boards and the various other officials in cities, the 
most of whom had opinions and prejudices which they 
gratified to a greater or less extent in the administra- 
tion of the law, and it will readily be understood why 
such diversity of practice existed in the execution and 
non-execution of the law. The uncertainty and ir- 
regularity of control and treatment of the traffic have 
led to much personal bitterness and local strife, and, in 
many localities, have so demoralised public sentiment 
upon this question that all excise laws are treated 
with indifference and contempt." 

If it be the mark of the best licensing systems to 
admit of quick adaptation to local needs, and to enlist 
in the interests of Temperance the thought and effort 
of good citizens, then, judged by any test of the kind, 
the Liquor Tax Law of New York State is signally 
deficient. 



392 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

Hian Licence in Minnesota. 





Estimated 


Estimated 




population 


population 




in 1884. 


in 1899. 


Minneapolis 


50,000 


225,602 



In Minneapolis, tlie chief city of Minnesota, an 
interesting experiment, said to be unique in the 
United States, has been carried on since 1884. In 
that year, with a population of about 50,000, the city 
had 536 saloons,^ each paying an annual licence fee of 
100 dollars. The rapid growth of Minneapolis appears 
to have been foreseen. '' Ambitious hands had laid 
out its boundaries, and prepared an area five miles 
wide by six miles long. Residents were scattered 
already over a large portion of the tract, and the 
saloons followed them with a haste which was a 
menace." This led to an uprising which has rooted 
out every saloon in eleven-twelfths (in area) of a 
city of 225,000 people.^ At the desire of the city, the 
^'Patrol Limit" Law of Minneapolis was passed by 
the State Legislature in 1884. It '' prohibits the 
grant of liquor licences outside the limits of a certain 
defined area, which includes only the central business 
part of the city ; and this restriction applies equally 
to hotels which supply liquors to their guests, as to 
mere dram-shops." ^ 

1 The Outlook (New York), September 23rd, 1899, p. 206. 

^ The Mayor of Minneapolis, in a letter to the present writers 
dated March 19th, 1900, says :— 

" The best estimate of the population within the patrol limits 
would be merely a guess, as the limits do not follow precinct 
lines. The territory is nearly all business and manufacturing, 
but, counting lodgers, about one-fifth of the population, in my 
opinion, lives within the limits." 

^ Fanshawe, Liquor Legislation in the United States and 



HIGH LICENCE 393 

"Within the restricted limits, saloons, under the 
close and immediate supervision of the authorities — a 
closeness of supervision rendered possible by the segre- 
gation — might be established under strict provisions 
and subject to close police patrol ; ^ outside of this line 
there should be no saloons. Should new territory be 
added to the city at any future time, it should for ever 
be free from saloons." ^ Since that time, over fifteen 
years ago, there has been no change in the line. 
Repeated efforts have been made to break it down. 
They have uniformly proved ineffectual. The ex- 
periment has no doubt been helped by the character 
of the population in Minneapolis, a city which, for its 
size, is one of the most orderly in the United States. 
One-third of its inhabitants, it is estimated, are 
Scandinavians, a frugal and law-abiding people who 
support temperance legislation. 

The process of reduction in the number of saloons 
has gone through three stages in Minneapolis. The 
first stage was reached in May, 1884, when the Patrol 
Limit Law was passed. Its immediate result was the 
closing of 95 saloons, the total number being reduced 
from 535 to 440. Nexfc, the licence fee was raised by 
an ordinance of the City Council from $100 to $500, 
and the number again fell to 334, at which figure it 
stood when the new State high-licence law ^ came 

Canada, p. 242. See also an address by General A. B. Nettleton, 
of Minneapolis, in the Proceedings of the National Temperance 
Congress, New York, 1890. 

^ Hence the name " Patrol Limit " Law. 

2 The Outlook, September 23rd, 1899, pp. 206-7. 

^ The following are, under this law, the licence fees through- 
out the State of Minnesota : — 

" In a city of 10,000 people or more, $1,000 or such amount in 
excess as the city]council may from time to time prescribe ; in a 



394 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

into operation in 1887. By this law, which raised the 
minimum fee to $1,000, the number of saloons was 
brought down to the lowest point, 230 ; ^ it has since 
risen with the growth of the population to the present 
figure of 330, being one saloon to every 684 of the 
population. In 1884 the 536 saloons yielded an in- 
come to the city of $53,600 ; in 1899 the 330 saloons 
yielded an income of $307,000. 

It is said ^ that the '' Patrol Limit " Law is well 
supported by the public opinion of Minneapolis, and 
that the people themselves are eager to aid in 
closing clandestine establishments, here called ^' blind 
pigs," which dispense small quantities of liquor on 
the sly. In qualification of this statement must, how- 
ever, be taken the evidence given by the Rev. Dr. 
M'Leod, a member of the Royal Canadian Commis- 
sion, who in his Minority Report (1895) says : ''In 
Minneapolis, which has 285 licensed saloons, there are, 
according to the Mayor's private secretary, from 25 
to 40 unlicensed places, all of which are as unmindful 
of days and hours as are the majority of the licensed 
places." 

The following table shows the arrests for drunken- 
ness in Minneapolis in some recent years ^ : — 

city of less than 10,000, $500, or such amount in excess as the 
city council may prescribe ; in countj^, village or borough, 
$500, or such amount in excess as the county commissioners or 
municipal authorities may fix and prescribe." 

These fees are considerably higher than the licence fees in 
the State of New York, see p. 377. 

Report of the Royal Canadian Commission^ p. 885. 

^ Fanshawe, Liquor Legislation in the United States and 
Canada, p. 243. 

2 The Outlook, September 23rd, 1899, p. 209. 

^ The figures for the years 1888 to 1893 are taken from the 



HIGH LICENCE 



395 



Year. 




Arrests per 1,000 
of the Population. 


1888 




18-10 


1889 




16-33 


1890 




13-19 


1891 




10-98 


1892 




12-92 


1893 




12-51 


1894, 1895, 


1896, 1897 . 


no returns 


1898 


1 • « 


6-89 



Mr. Fanshawe, writing in 1892, supplies tlie 
following evidence as to tlie working of the Act : 
^' A gentleman, who was formerly a reporter for one 
of the newspapers in the Municipal Court, where he 
had exceptional opportunities of observing the con- 
dition of the town in regard to crime, assured me that 
the institution of the patrol limit had had a very 
marked effect on the business in the police court, and 
had greatly lightened the reporter's duties. The 
change had been especially notable in one particular 
quarter of the town, a residential district of the lower 
sort, inhabited by many of the workmen employed in 
the great factories. It had acquired so bad a character 
that it was known as the " Hub of Hell." From this 
region came frequent calls for the patrol wagon ; 
much drinking went on in it ; saloons were plentiful, 
and from them proceeded a vast amount of disorder 
and crime. The Patrol Limit Law shut up nearly 
all these saloons, since all but a strip of this district 
lies outside the limit ; and it has now lost its old title, 
and become a decent, orderly part of the city. This 

Report of the Royal Canadian Commission, p. 992 ; those for 
1898 from the Bulletin of the Department of Labour^ Wash- 
ington, No. 24, September, 1898. 



396 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

is only a more striking example of what has in 
less degree happened in other parts. When a work- 
man comes home in the evening, tired, he will not go 
far for a drink. If there is a saloon quite near his 
house, he is apt to stroll in and meet his friends ; they 
treat one another, and thence comes the mischief." 

Population in 
1899. 

St. Paul 215,582 

In St. Paul, the Capital of Minnesota, there is a 
considerable residential section of the city in which 
no licences are allowed. The number of saloons (1898) 
was 286; the licence fee is $1,000. The arrests per 
1,000 of the population were in 1898 only 5-42. 

The wide areas in Minneapolis and St. Paul in 
which there are no saloons may be compared with 
Toxteth Park, Liverpool, where a population of 
60,000 has no public-house in its midst. In Toxteth 
Park this immunity is dependent upon the will of the 
ground landlords, while in Minneapolis it has been 
secured by the action of its City Council. But in 
each case large urban populations accept and support 
the exclusion of public-houses from extensive districts 
in their respective cities ; the explanation being that 
in each case there is, at no great distance from the 
prohibition districts, the '' safety-valve " of places 
where liquor can be obtained. Neither in Minneapolis 
nor in St. Paul is there any statutory limitation of 
the number of licences, and the ratio of licences in 
these cities to the entire population is not especially 
small, being 1 to 684 in the former, and 1 to 745 in 
the latter city. 

In Minnesota, High Licence is seen in perhaps the 



HIGH LICENCE 397 

most favourable aspect in which it is presented in 
the United States. As already said, its working has 
been aided by the Scandinavian element in the popu- 
lation — Norwegians, Swedes, and Danes — who ^' make 
excellent citizens," and represent together nearly one- 
half of the total population of the State. Yet any 
one who reads in the Minutes of Evidence of the 
Royal Canadian Commission the forty-four pages 
devoted to Minnesota will see how imperfect is the 
control of the licensed houses. In the larger towns 
the Sunday closing regulations are generally violated ; 
indeed, some of the saloons provide additional attrac- 
tions on Sundays. The sale of drink is carried on in 
connection with places of entertainment—in certain 
of them under conditions that would not be permitted 
in this country — and the sale to minors, although 
illegal, exists.^ 

Under High Licence, as under low, so long as the 
sale of liquor is in private hands, and the saloon-keeper 
benefits by every glass that he sells, the violation of 
bye-laws is inevitable. 

Evils op High Licence. 

Perhaps the gravest impeachment brought against 
High Licence is that it does little to lessen the 
political power of the Trade. 

Mr. McKenzie, writing in 1896, after careful inves- 
tigation of the working of the liquor laws in High 
Licence States, says : ^' The great fault of the High 
Licence ]plan is that it leaves the saloon almost as great a. 
power in politics as ever J' 

* See Minutes of Evidence of the Royal Canadian Commis- 
sion, vol. V. pp. 321, 328, 337-8, 340, 345 and 349. 



398 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

To this fault should, however, be added two others. 

In the first place, the system gives the locality a 
direct interest in the local drink trade. In Philadel- 
phia, as we have seen, the licence fees, which before 
the introduction of High Licence amounted to £60,000, 
have since risen to £338,422. Even this figure is 
dwarfed by the revenue received in Chicago^, which in 
1899 amounted to £625,480, received on account of 
6,300 licences. This sum constitutes twelve per cent. 
of the municipal income (" ordinary receipts ") of the 
city. The net revenue in the State of New York 
under the Raines Excise Law in the year ending 
April 30th, 1899, was £2,329,791, of which two-thirds, 
or £1,553,194, went to the cities or towns, or town- 
ships, in which the traffic was carried on. A locality 
which, under the Local Option clauses, decided to have 
no licences within its limits, would thus have no 
share in the two-thirds proceeds of the excise tax which 
went to the municipalities. It is unquestionably 
right that the licence holder should pay a sum com- 
mensurate with the monopoly handed over to him, 
but it cannot be wise that the people in any city or 
village should have a direct monetary interest in the 
traffic. 

Secondly, it is to be remembered that High Licence 
intensifies the interest of the ordinary dealer in 
pushing his sales. 

In considering how far these objections would apply 
to the introduction of a High Licence system into this 
country, it may be admitted that some of the evils 
which have resulted from it in the United States 
would not be likely to be reproduced here, and that 

^ The estimated population of Chicago, in 1899, was 
1,850,000. 



HIGH LICENCE 399 

others miglit possibly be obviated by modifications of 
the system. But, under it, the menace of the trade to 
our political and municipal life would continue. For 
if the number of licensed houses were reduced, the 
individual power of those that remained would be 
greater. The divorce between politics and the drink 
traffic, without which no scheme of licensing reform 
can be satisfactory, would not be effected. 

Moreover, in this country, as in the United States, 
the inducement of the licence-holder to press sales 
would be increased, and once again we should realize 
the futility of attempting to control a trade while 
placing those who conduct it under the strongest 
temptation both to bring about its extension and to 
prevent the introduction of salutary reforms. 



CHAPTER VI 

The Government Spirit Monopoly 
in Russia 

AN experiment of a different cliaracter from any 
hitherto considered is that of the Government 
Spirit Monopoly in Eussia. The system was intro- 
duced, by way of experiment, in four of the eastern 
provinces in January of 1895. From the beginning 
of the second half of 1896 it became the common law 
of the Empire, and only the preparatory work of 
Drganization has occasioned a delay in its application 
to the whole of Eussia in Europe. '' In addition to 
the above-mentioned regions, the monopoly is in force 
in the North-West, the North, and in all the Kingdom 
of Poland. The time is not far distant when it will 
be in force equally in the parts of Siberia nearest the 
Ural."^ In the establishment of this monopoly " two 
objects have been kept in view throughout : firstly, to 
obtain for the benefit of the State the largest possible 
amount of revenue from this trade ; and, secondly, to 
diminish drunkenness." ^ The two objects named must 
necessarily be somewhat antagonistic, and the history 
of Grovernment monopolies would warrant the expecta- 

* Bulletin Eusse de Statistique Financiere et de Legislation. 
Nos. 10-12, Oct. -Dec, 1898. 

^ Foreign Office Report— {Miscellaneous Series), No. 465, 1898. 

400 



SPIRIT MONOPOLY IN RUSSIA 401 

tion that more attention will ultimately be paid to the 
acquisition of revenue than to the lessening of drunken- 
ness ; ^ the Grovernment Opium Monopoly in India and 
the State Liquor Monopoly in South Carolina are illus- 
trations in point. 

The new monopoly is limited to the sale of spirituous 
liquors which are, according to Consular statement, 
^' the usual alcoholic beverages of the masses," and is 
not extended to fermented beverages such as wine and 
beer. The manufacture of spirits remains in the 
hands of private persons, but the distilleries are put 
under ofEcial regulation as regards output, prices, etc. 

The retail dealers consist of — 

(1) The shops and depots of the Government. 

(2) '^ Traktirs," ^ restaurants, and private establish- 
ments, which sell on commission for the Govern- 
ment. 

In the Government shops, no consumption on the 
premises is allowed. The spirits are sold in closed and 
sealed bottles, on which is a label stating the price, 
quantity, and alcoholic strength. The price of the 
bottles, which are of various sizes, is strictly propor- 
tional to the contents. No corkscrews are allowed in 
the shops, nor are the buyers allowed to open the 
bottles on the premises, nor while carrying them to 
their destination. In the country, the '' traktirs " 
may supply their customers with sealed bottles only, 

* " In the opinion of many persons, one of tlie chief objections 
to the present reform is that it is impossible for the State to 
adequately perform the twofold duties now undertaken by it ; 
namely, to maintain the revenues from the tax on liquors at 
their previous level, and to endeavour to wean the masses from 
their fatal proclivity to inordinate drinking." — Ibid., p. 6. 

^ Establishments where food is supplied as well as drink. 

26 



402 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

at a fixed price, receiving a small commission (about 
3| per cent.) from the Government on their sales. 
Except in these establishments, and in the Govern- 
ment shops, it is impossible to procure any spirits 
legally in the rural districts. 

In towns and at railway stations, keepers of restau- 
rants and bufifets may sell spirits either : — 

(a) As in the country — viz., in sealed bottles and 
at the prices marked thereon, but with this 
difference, that the contents may be consumed 
on the premises,^ or 

(5) By the glass, or in any way they choose. Spirits 
of any kind, native or foreign, may be sold. 

This second mode (&) of sale is only permitted in 
the case of a very few restaurants and buffets of the 
highest class, and the privilege is not likely to lead 
to any danger to the working-classes, whose purses 
do not permit them to patronize such costly establish- 
ments. 

A sweeping reduction has also been made in the 
number of places where drink can be obtained. In 
St. Petersburg, out of 937 wine and spirit shops, only 
178 are now permitted to sell Government spirits • 
some others may continue their business, but are not 
authorized to sell spirits. The Government and pri- 
vate spirit-shops now amount to 325, which number 
may be increased if necessary. Out of the 650 '' trak- 
tirs " formerly existing, 250 only have been relicensed, 
but there are also 15 first-class restaurants where 

* This is another illustration of the fact which meets one at 
every turn, that it is impracticable to carry out in the towns 
regulations as stringent as those which can be enforced in the 
country. 



SPIRIT MONOPOLY IN RUSSIA 403 

spirits of any kind may be sold without restrictions 
as to price or quantity, and 66 others with the obliga- 
tion to sell Government spirits, if required, at Govern- 
ment prices and in sealed bottles. 

Compensation. 

No compensation has been given to the dispossessed 
keepers of spirit-shops. An extract from a semi-official 
publication may be quoted : ^ — 

"In Russia, there can be no question of giving 
compensation to the evicted retailers of spirits. The 
licence they were granted by which they were per- 
mitted to carry on their deplorable business has always 
been considered by the legislator, the administration, 
the public, and by themselves as a permission liable 
to be withdrawn without explanation or comment." 

It is, however, stated that the question of granting 
assistance in certain cases to the above-mentioned 
individuals is under consideration. In the case, how- 
ever, of Poland, some of the Western provinces, and 
the Baltic provinces, very ancient vested rights existed 
belonging to both private persons and public bodies. 
Landed proprietors and towns had the right of dis- 
tilling, and keeping drink-shops, both of which proved 
a source of considerable income. It was found im- 
possible to extinguish these rights, called '^ propina- 
tion," without some compensation. Accordingly, all 
those who have enjoyed the privileges of " propina- 
tion " have been called on to furnish returns to the 
Government showing their annual income from this 
source for the ^ye years 1890-94 ; an average is 

^ Quoted in Foreign Office Report (Miscellaneous iSeries), 
No. 465, 1898. 



404 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

taken, and this sum, multiplied by 20, has been or 
will be paid to them as a final settlement of their 
claims for the loss of their rights. 

Sale of Beee. 

^' Although it was stated that the Monopoly would 
sell spirits only, its introduction has occasioned great 
interference with the sale of beer, the licences for 
houses providing this beverage having been consider- 
ably reduced in number." In St. Petersburg, for in- 
stance, out of 982 establishments where beer might be 
sold and consumed on the premises, 304 are permitted 
to carry on their trade as before, while 580 may sell 
beer, but not for consumption on the premises. These 
restrictions have caused a considerable loss to the 
brewing industry, the consumption of beer being 
said to have fallen off nearly 30 per cent, since the 
beginning of 1898. 

Counter- Attractions. 

A feature of some interest in the new legislation is 
thus described in the Consular Report : — 

" While criticising the monopoly, mention should 
be made of the tea-shops which the Government are 
endeavouring to establish alongside of the new system, 
and for which certain sums of money have been 
granted. They are intended to take the place of the 
old dram-shops, and to become harmless places of 
resort for the lower classes, where they can meet 
without any temptation to intemperance. Temper- 
ance committees have been also formed, presided over 
by the Governor of the province when in a provincial 
town, and by the Marshal of Nobility in a district 
town. The functions of these committees consist in 



SPIRIT MONOPOLY IN RUSSIA 405 

endeavouring to prevent an inordinate consumption of 
vodka, and to generally promote Temperance. They 
are also authorised to establish tea-rooms and to make 
them as attractive as possible. It is stated that these 
attempts to combat drunkenness and to wean the 
people from the drink-shops have as yet proved in- 
effectual, owing to the smallness of the sums devoted 
by the provincial authorities to the organization and 
maintenance of the Temperance establishments." 

It is worthy of note that the Government have 
thus recognised the necessity of providing counter- 
attractions with which to combat drunkenness. In 
the Russian climate, it would obviously be a mistake 
to close the doors of the warm room — the popular place 
of meeting — without providing a substitute. But it 
is equally worthy of note that the experiment has 
failed because it has not been supported by adequate 
funds. To provide attractions which shall efficiently 
counteract those of the public-house must involve a 
great expenditure of money and time. 

Eesults op the Monopoly. 

The latest and most authoritative evidence upon 
the working of the Spirit Monopoly is to be found in 
the Report of the Russian Minister of Finance ad- 
dressed to the Emperor under date January 31st, 
1899, from which the following extracts have been 
taken. After stating that the immediate result of 
the introduction of the Monopoly is a diminished con- 
sumption of alcohol, but that as the people become 
accustomed to the new regime the consumption tends 
to revert to the former figures, the Report con- 
tinues : — 

" Now that four years have passed since the 



4o6 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

monopoly was put in force in the Eastern Provinces, 
and two and a half years since it came into operation 
in the vast regions of the South and South- West, it 
is permissible to express a judgment on its moral and 
economic effects, and to present some data for estimat- 
ing its financial results. 

'' Your Imperial Majesty is aware that, in changing 
the method of collecting the duty on alcohol, it was 
not sought directly to increase the fiscal revenues. 
If the Minister of Finance felt it necessary to ask that 
the retail sale "of spirituous liquors should be taken 
from individuals and monopolised by the State, it was 
above all that he might bring to an end the abuses 
inherent in the old organization. With us the 
average of consumption is relatively small, though 
there are great variations. The spirituous liquors 
offered for sale by the retail dealers contain ingre- 
dients which are harmful, if not dangerous, to the 
health. The very conditions of the trade in strong 
drink, a very lucrative trade for people who are not 
over-scrupulous, favoured the perpetuation of manifold 
abuses which were ruining the lower classes. It was 
impossible to end these deplorable evils except by 
placing the trade in the hands of the State. The 
trial that has just been made, short as has been its 
duration, has proved that the monopoly attains this 
end. 

''The reports addressed to Your Majesty by the 
Grovernors of the Provinces where the new system 
is in force, and the accounts communicated to the 
Minister of Finance by the highest ecclesiastical 
authorities, by the Officials of the Nobility, by the 
Zemstvos, and by the Municipalities, are almost 
unanimous in bearing evidence to the salutary effects 



SPIRIT MONOPOLY IN RUSSIA 407 

of the reform. The better quality of the brandy, the 
considerable reduction in the number of places of sale, 
the establishment of uniform prices strictly propor- 
tional to the quantity sold, the impossibility of pro- 
curing alcoholic drinks except for ready money, — all 
these advantages, and others which are brought about 
by the rectification and sale of spirits under the care 
of the State, have already practically demonstrated 
their happy influence. Drunkenness has perceptibly 
diminished; debauchery, with its inevitable' conse- 
quences, has given place to a more regular use of 
alcohol ; offences and crimes provoked by drunkenness 
have become rarer. Nor has the usefulness of the 
reform been limited to the preservation of health and 
good morals ; it exercises a salutary effect upon the 
material resources of the people. This economic pro- 
gress is confirmed both by the increase of the fiscal 
receipts and by the inflow of deposits to the savings 
banks, a double phenomenon which is to be observed 
in the four Eastern Provinces (Perm, Oufa, Samara, 
and Orenbourg) since the new regulations as to 
spirituous liquors have been in force there. . . . 
Another point that is not without importance is, that 
the establishment of the monopoly has been followed 
by improved influx of yearly redemption payments 
(debts exclusively owing by the peasants) and even 
by the settlement of arrears due on these same annui- 
ties. ... To estimate the financial results of the 
reform, we may base our calculations upon the experi- 
ence gained during the years 1895-7 in the Eastern 
Provinces. In 1893, the year before the reform,* the 

* The year 1893 lias been chosen as the basis of comparison, 
and not the year 1894, which in the Eastern Provinces imme- 
diately preceded the application of the new regime^ because the 



4o8 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

amount of excise duty in these four provinces liad been 
11,600,000 roubles,^ and tbe revenue from the licence 
duty 754,000 roubles, or a total of 12,354,000 roubles. 
If we take this last figure as the annual average of 
the revenue from drink, the triennial period 1895-7 
should have given in the provinces of the East an 
income in round numbers of about 37,000,000 roubles. 
At the same time we must consider that the applica- 
tion of the new system has brought with it under the 
head of control of indirect taxes an increase of dis- 
bursements of about 694,000 roubles for the three 
years, and that this sum must be put to the debit of 
the monopoly. In consequence, in order that the 
passage from the old system to that of the new ad- 
ministration might be effected without injury to the 
Exchequer, it was necessary that the income from the 
drink revenue should reach for the three years 1895-7, 
taken together, a total of 37,700,000 roubles. As a 
matter of fact, the revenue under the head of licences 
and as the net result of the work of the monopoly, 
making deduction for all expenses of purchase, of 
rectification and of sale generally (except the allow- 
ances to the local distillers),^ amounted in 1895 to 

year 1893 had had an exceptional harvest, and consequently the 
figures of consumption in 1894 had been abnormally increased. 
On the other hand, just before the establishment of the 
regulations, enormous sales of existing stocks had been made. 

^ Rouble = two shillings. 

^ Before the reform these allowances to the local distillers 
were given in kind ; that is to say, the distillers instead of 
paying excise duty (ten roubles per vedro* of pure alcohol) on 
the total amount of their production, might, according to the 
greater or less importance of the distillery, send out free from 
duty from ^ to 4 per cent, of the quantity of alcohol made by 
them. 

* Vedro = 2-7 of an imperial gallon. 



SPIRIT MONOPOLY IN RUSSIA 409 

16,844,000 roubles ; in 1896 to 19,018,000 roubles, and 
in 1897 to 20,375,000 roubles; making a total of 
56,237,000 roubles. 

'' Thus after the establishment of the monopoly the 
drink revenue in the East, from the commencement 
of the first triennial period, exceeded by 18,500,000 
roubles the income which could have been obtained 
under the Excise system. It must be noted that the 
initial expenses of the establishment and organization 
of the monopoly only amounted for these provinces to 
a total of about 3,300,000 roubles. . . . 

'* Whilst attesting to Your Imperial Majesty the 
excellent effects of the reform on the material and 
moral state of the people, as well as its satisfactory 
results from a fiscal point of view, the Minister of 
Finance is far from pretending to affirm that the new 
organization in these districts where it has been in 
force has attained to all the perfection of which it is 
capable. Doubtless there is much to be done still in 
this domain as regards the administration of the 
finance. Certain details of the reform have as yet 
been simply indicated ; others must be remoulded or 
completed: the whole needs attentive management. 
Nevertheless, this vast enterprise rests henceforward 
on a rational basis. Though profoundly convinced 
that the drink reform will not be slow to exercise a 
beneficent action on all parts of the Empire, yet the 
Minister of Finance expects that in its application it 
will be the most fruitful in the Central Provinces, 
where the actual evils of the trade in spirituous liquors 
are experienced with an intensity peculiar to the 
population of old Russian stock. So we must con- 
gratulate ourselves upon the decision adopted by the 
Council of the Empire to advance by one year the 



410 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

establishment of the monopoly in the Province of the 
region of Moscow." 



Conclusion. 

If it be thought that in the Russian Spirit Monopoly 
there is little that can be imitated in this country, the 
experiment is nevertheless exceedingly suggestive. 
That it has been entered into with an honest intention 
of lessening intemperance may be freely acknowledged, 
even by those who believe that the desire to obtain 
revenue from sales will ultimately defeat the moral 
objects of the measure. While it is true that the 
interest of the retailer in pushing sales has been 
almost destroyed, his place has been taken by the 
Government, and it is easy to see that, without con- 
stant vigilance, the administration of the law may 
fall into the hands of those who will care only to 
bring about an immediate increase of revenue, and 
who, as officers of the State, will be armed with the 
power of modifying arrangements so as to increase 
consumption. 

In this connection, it is necessary clearly to dis- 
tinguish between two systems which are essentially 
different, and, indeed, directly antagonistic. The con- 
trol of a monopoly trade by the State, whose revenue 
benefits by an increase and suffers by a reduction of 
sales, is as far removed as possible from the local 
control of a monopoly trade by a body of men who 
can have no interest in its extension, and whose reason 
for association with it is that they may restrict sales. 
In the former case, the inducement of the private 
trader to increase sales is transferred to the State ; in 
the latter case, if the necessary safeguards are pro- 



SPIRIT MONOPOLY IN RUSSIA 411 

vided, the element of interest in sales by those who 
control it is destroyed.^ 

Under the Russian Spirit Monopoly, the consump- 
tion of spirits on the premises has been largely done 
away with. Sales on credit, or in exchange for agri- 
cultural produce, clothes, etc., have been stopped,^ and 
a great reduction has been made in the number of 
places licensed for the sale of spirits. But perhaps the 
most significant feature of the experiment is the fresh 
indication it affords of the growing sense on the part 
of civilized States that the liquor traffic is of so 
dangerous a character that it cannot safely be en- 
trusted to the private trader, and also that it is 
irrational to let the profits of this monopoly pass 
into private hands. 

The Swiss Alcohol Monopoly. 

The Swiss Federal Alcohol Monopoly, which came 
into force in 1887, applies to the importation, manu- 
facture, and wholesale distribution of spirits in 
quantities of not less than about forty gallons. As 
the Act leaves the retail sale untouched, a con- 
sideration of the measure is outside the scope of this 
volume. 

^ The power of law, i.e. of tlie arrangements of a commimitj', 
to affect consumption is strikingly illustrated in the earlier 
history of Eussian licensing. From 1826 to 1862 what has 
been called the " farming system " was in force, under which 
the farming companies had the strongest interest in pushing 
sales. They succeeded, according to the Consular Eeport, " in 
bringing the consumption of spirits in Russia to exactly double 
what it had been under the preceding system." 

^ " In the dram-shop, the proprietor was usually willing to 
supply drink on credit, advance it on wages owing, or exchange 
it for agricultural produce, clothes, etc." — Foreign Office Report 
{Miscdlaneous Series)^ No. 465, 1898. 



OHAPTBE YII 

The Dispensary System in the United 

States 

THE Dispensary System is a system under which, 
the retail trade in alcoholic liquors is taken out 
of private hands and carried on in dispensaries under 
public management. The saloon is abolished, and no 
sale permitted except an '^ off " sale in sealed bottles. 
The system has been adopted to a greater or less 
extent in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, 
and Alabama. 

In South Carolina, where a State monopoly has 
been adopted, the dispensaries are under centralized 
(State) management, but where the Dispensary Sys- 
tem has been adopted without a State monopoly, the 
dispensaries are managed locally. 

"When the Dispensary System is strictly enforced 
as a State monopoly, the only alternative to the Dis- 
pensary is Prohibition. There are, however. States in 
which the Dispensary is not a State monopoly, but in 
which the localities can adopt the System or not, as 
they may determine. Within the limits of these 
States there may be some districts under the Dis- 
pensary System, others under Prohibition, and others 
again under some form of licence. 

412 



THE DISPENSARY SYSTEM 413 



SOUTH CAEOLINA 

Population (1890) Whites . . 462,008 
Coloured . . 689,141 

Total . 1,151,149 

In 1890 there were in South Carolina 37 towns or villages 
with a population above 1,000, viz. : — 

Charleston with a population of . . . 54,955 



Columbia „ „ ,, . . 

1 town with a population of 8,000 and under 

1 „ „ „ „ 5,000 . . 

6 towns „ „ ,, 3,000 . 

10 „ „ „ „ 2,000 . . 

17 „ „ „ „ 1,000 . . 

37 



15,353 
9,000 
6,000 
4,000 
3,000 
2,000 



Proportion of Urban and Eural Population. 

1890. 
Eural ...... 93 per cent. 

Urban {i.e. populations above 8,000) 7 „ 

The case of South Carolina affords another illustra- 
tion, under a different form, of the principle of State 
Monopoly. 

Prior to 1893 " the principles of local option and 
prohibition were both applied, the former to the 
traffic in cities, towns, and villages having charters, 
the latter to all the territory of the State outside 
of such municipalities." ^ On July 1, 1893, however, 
there came into force a State monopoly, known as the 
Dispensary System,^ which had been enacted by the 

^ See communication from the Chairman of the State Prohibi- 
tion Committee. Report of the Royal Canadian Commission, 
1895, p. 865. 

^ The Dispensary System did not originate in South Carolina, 
but was borrowed from Athens, a University town in Georgia 



414 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

South Carolina legislature in 1892. Under this Act, 
wliicli was re-enacted with various amendments in 
1895/ 1896 and 1897, the sale of all beverages con- 
taining alcohol is made a State monopoly. The saloon 
has been abolished and its place taken by dispensaries, 
where liquor can only be obtained in bottles for 
consumption off the premises. No licences are granted 
to either hotels or restaurants. 

The existing Act provides for the establishment of a 
State Board of Control of five members (one of whom 
retires annually) elected by the General Assembly, and 
of State and County dispensaries ; as well as for the 
appointment, by the Board of Control, subject to 
the approval of the Senate, of a State Commissioner 
from whom all liquors sold by the dispensaries must 
be purchased. 

All spirits are required to be put up in bottles (or 
packages) of not less than one half-pint, or more than 
-^Ye gallons, and dispensaries are not allowed to sell 
except in such vessels, nor may the bottles be opened 
on the premises. Very similar restrictions are applied 

with a population of about 10,000. The system was established 
there in 1891. 

^ Under a revision of the Constitution of the State of South 
Carolina, ratified December 4, 1895, it was enacted "that no 
licence shall be granted to sell alcoholic beverages in less quan- 
tities than one half-pint, or to sell them between sundown and 
sunrise, or to sell them to be drunk on the premises." The 
South Carolina Dispensary Law, as such, is no part of the State 
Constitution, but the above important provisions, which are em- 
bodied in the Dispensary Law, can only be altered by a revision 
of the State Constitution. 

For the method of effecting a change in the Constitution of a 
State, see footnote, p. 128. 



THE DISPENSARY SYSTEM 415 

to the sale of malt liquors^ which may not be sold in less 
quantity than one pint, nor for consumption on the 
premises. All sales are for cash, and confined to the 
hours between sunrise and sundown. Sales to minors 
are prohibited and Sunday closing is absolute, except 
that a physician, known to the dispenser as a duly 
qualified and reputable medical man, can himself 
purchase liquor if he requires it for an urgent case. 

The Act provides that before selling or delivering 
any intoxicating liquors to any person, a request is to 
be presented to the county dispenser, printed or written 
in ink, stating that he, or she, is of age, giving the 
residence of the signer, and stating for whom or 
for whose use the liquor is required and the quantity 
and kind wanted. This request is to be signed by the 
applicant and attested by the county dispenser or his 
clerk, who receives and files the request. If the 
applicant is known to be intemperate, the request is to 
be denied. This provision of a written application is, 
however, absolutely disregarded in the Charleston dis- 
pensary which came under the special observation of 
one of the present writers, and was declared by the 
dispenser to be impracticable. 

The system has a twofold aim : (1) to reduce the 
evils of the liquor traffic by taking it out of private 
hands, and (2) to retain the whole of the profit for State 
and municipal purposes. It was anticipated that the 
dispensaries would yield a net annual profit of £100,000, 
but the total net profit actually realized to the State, 
counties and towns, in the five and a half years ending 
December 31st, 1898, during which the South Carolina 
monopoly has been in force, has been £258,504. Di- 



4i6 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

viding tlie five and a half years into two equal periods, 
the profit in the first was at the rate of £31,949 per 
annum, and in the second at the rate oi £62,052 
per annum.^ In 1892, prior to the establishment of 
the State monopoly. South Carolina had 613 bar-rooms, 
from which it derived a yearly revenue of £43,074.^ 
The city of Charleston has, however, suffered finan- 
cially by the change. Before the introduction of the 
Dispensary System, the liquor licences yielded from 
£5,500 to £6,000 per annum.^ The city now receives 
from the dispensaries less than half that sum.'* This 
fact may, in part, account for the opposition which the 
law has persistently experienced in Charleston. 

The profits upon sales by the State Commissioner 
{i.e. to the local dispensaries) go to the State and are 
devoted to the public (free) schools ; those upon sales by 
the dispensers are equally divided between the county 
and the municipality. If the authorities of any town 
or city, in the judgment of the State Board of Control, 
do not enforce the law, the State Board may withhold 
the profits going to such town or city, and use them to 
pay the State constables, or may turn the profits into 
the county treasury. 



* Report of the State Board of Control of the South Carolina 
Dispensary for the Fiscal Year 1898. 

2 The Liquor Problem in its Legislative Aspects, by the Com- 
mittee of Fifty, p. 149. 

^ Year Book of City of Charleston for 1894, p. 5. 

^ Year Books of City of Charleston for 1896-97-98. 



THE DISPENSARY SYSTEM 417 



The Wholesale Trade. 

The State Board of Control virtually controls all the 
manufacture of hquor. Before a distiller can manu- 
facture a single gallon of spirits he has to get a permit 
from the State Board, which regulates the quantity to 
be produced. Moreover, subject to one possible excep- 
tion, the distiller cannot sell to anybody but the State 
Board. The exception is this : Should the Board not 
want his liquor, it may at its discretion grant him a 
permit to sell it outside the State, but in practice this 
is rarely, if ever, done. The Board refuses many appli- 
cations from persons wishing to establish distilleries in 
the State, holding that there are enough already. There 
is only one brewery in South Carolina. It is in the 
city of Charleston and has a charter from the State 
which enables it to sell on its own account outside the 
State ; but even in this case the State Board has a 
certain control, having an agent on the premises 
always in charge who collects a royalty upon all the 
beer sold. 



As will be seen by the annexed table, which gives 
the figures for the entire State and also for the two 
principal cities, the reduction in the number of places 
for the sale of drink, under the operation of the Act, 
has been very great: — 



27 



4i8 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



Population 
1890. 


Bars in 
1892. 


Dispensaries 
in 1899. 


Illicit 
Liquor-sellera i 
in year ending 
30tli June, 1899. 


State of South 








Carolina — 








1,151,149 


. 613 


. . 922 . 


. 185 


City of Charleston — 








54,955 3 


. 285 


. . 10 . 


. 139 


City of Columbia — 








15,353 


. 38 


. . 4 . 


4 



No compensation was given to those whose licences 
were suppressed, the Act simply providing that '' no 
licence for the sale of spirituous liquors now authorised 
to be granted by municipal authorities shall be of any 
force or effect after June 30th, 1893." 

Beee Dispensaeies.^ 

Favoured by some ambiguity in the wording of Sec. 
4 of the Dispensary Law of 1897, dispensaries for the 

^ Persons, other than dispensers, wlio took out Federal liquor 
licences for the year ending June 30th, 1899, and who were 
therefore presumably violators of the State law. 
^ The 92 dispensaries are distributed as follows : — 

Charleston 10 

Columbia 4 

2 towns have each two 4 

24 towns (out of 37) which in 1890 had a 

population above 1,000 have each one . 24 
50 towns, or villages, which in 1890 had a 

population of under 1,000 have each one 50 

92 

3 The estimated population of Charleston in 1899, as supplied 
by the City Clerk, was 65,165, viz.: — Whites, 28,870; coloured, 
36,295. 

* In the ordinary dispensaries both spirits and beer are sold, 
but the sale of the latter is confined to ^'' export" beer {i.e. beer 



THE DISPENSARY SYSTEM 419 

sale of beer were established in 1897-8. At that time, 
owing to the adverse decisions of the law courts, the 
liquor trafHc was almost unrestricted and the State 
Board of Control was not unwilling to use beer dis- 
pensaries to assist in suppressing the illegitimate com- 
petition thrust upon it.^ 

At the present time (1899) there are 24 beer dis- 
pensaries in South Carolina, of which 4 are in the city 
of Charleston. The beer dispensers can only buy 
through the State Commissioner,^ but they can choose 
both the kind of beer they wish to purchase and the 
brewery from which it is to be bought. The beer 
dispensers are, in fact, private traders (in some cases 
the agents of brewers), who, although trading for 
private profit, have to comply with the general regula- 
tions which attach to the Dispensary System. Thus 
the sale is entirely an "off" sale and is confined to the 
hours between sunrise and sundown. Not less than 
one pint can be sold at one time.^ The beer dispensaries 
have throughout been the subject of much controversy. 
In September, 1899, the Board of Control adopted a 
resolution to close them on November 1st, 1899. But 
the beer dispensers having been elected for a period of 
twelve months, beginning May 1st, 1899, and having 
given bond for that time, could not be removed with- 

bottled by the brewer). In tlie case of the beer dispensaries the 
sale is restricted to " bulk " beer (i.e. beer purchased in barrels 
and bottled by the beer dispense!'). No jug trade is in either 
case allowed. 

* See Report of the State Board of Control for 1898, p. 4. 

^ The beer dispensaries pay a royalty to the State Board of 
three dollars on every barrel of beer. This royalty is equally 
divided between the State on the one hand, and the towns and 
counties on the other. 

3 In practice, two half-pint bottles are often served. 



420 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



out cause. Subsequently the State Board of Control 
adopted a resolution prohibiting the local boards from 
electing any more beer dispensers, so that under the 
latter resolution all beer dispensaries were to be closed 
on May 1st, 1900.^ 

Aeeests for Deunkenness. 

No conclusive test of the success of a system can be 
drawn from the statistics of drunkenness, but the 
following figures of the arrests for drunkenness in 
Charleston and Columbia since 1888 are not without 
significance. It will be seen that in the years follow- 
ing the introduction of the system the arrests show a 
considerable decline. In Charleston and Columbia the 
figures are as under : — 

Aeeests foe Deunkenness. 



City 


of Charleston. 


City of Columbia. 


Tear. 


Total 
No. of 
Arrests. ] 


Ratio 1 
per 1,000 
uhabitants. , 


Total Eatio 
No. of per 1,000 
Year. Arrests, inhabitants. 


1888 . 


. 715 . 


13-25 


1891 . . 247 . . 15-85 


1889 . 


. 868 . 


15-93 


1892 . . 201 . . 12-71 


1890 . 


. 801 . 


14-57 


1893 2 . . 187 . . 11-66 


1891 . 


. 849 . 


15-31 


1894 . . 182 . . 11-19 


1892 . 


. 690 . 


12-33 




1893 2 . 


. 412 . 


7-29 




1894 . 

1895 . 

1896 . 

1897 . 

1898 . 


. 459 . 
. 405 . 
. 361 . 
. no retur] 
. 327 . 


. 8-06 
6-68 

. 5-85 

as. 

. 5-11 


Note.— Owing to the destruction 
of the City Hall by fire, later 
figures for Columbia are not 
available. 



^ Letter from a Charleston correspondent under date Decem- 
ber 4tli, 1899 
2 The Dispensary System came into force in July, 1893. 



THE DISPENSARY SYSTEM 421 

In other cities '^ the information collected shows con- 
clusively that the arrests for drunkenness have fallen 
off from one-third to one-half under the Dispensary 
Law." 1 

Right of Local Veto. 

Section 7 of the Dispensary Law, as approved 
March, 1897, provides that " When the county board 
designates a locality for a dispensary, twenty days' 
public notice of which shall be given, it shall be com- 
petent for a majority of the voters of the township in 
which such dispensary is to be located, to prevent its 
location in such township by signing a petition or 
petitions addressed to the County Board, requesting that 
no dispensary be established in that township." The 
County Board is, moreover, precluded from placing a 
dispensary in any county, town, or city wherein the 
sale of alcoholic liquors was prohibited by law prior to 
July 1st, 1893, unless one-fourth of the qualified voters 
of such county, town, or city, petition to have a dis- 
pensary therein, in which case an election is held, and 
if a majority of the ballots cast be found and declared 
to be for a dispensary, then a dispensary may be 
established. 

As the South Carolina Dispensary System is a State 
monopoly, the only option it offers lies between dis- 
pensaries and prohibition. The extent to which pro- 
hibition exists in the State has been shown elsewhere.^ 

History of the Act. 

The Governor of the State in 1896 said that the Act 
"has had a hard road," and another American speaks 

^ The Liquor Problem in its Legislative Aspects, p. 178. 
2 See p. 302. 



422 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

of " its stormy and dramatic existence." In tlie year 
following its original enactment, tlie friction produced 
by attempts to execute the law culminated in conflicts 
which, on three separate occasions led to loss of life. 
The extraordinary energy and the iron will of Governor 
Tillman alone carried the measure through this early 
opposition. Then it encountered even greater perils in 
the law courts, where the Act in one or other of its 
forms was twice condemned as unconstitutional, with 
the result that in 1894, from April 21st to August 1st, 
the traffic was almost unrestricted, while the same 
state of things prevailed during some months of 1897 
and 1898. 

However, by the decision of May, 1898, the Supreme 
Court of the United States has declared that " the 
Dispensary Acts in their essential features are valid, 
that is, furnish a proper and constitutional method of 
regulating the liquor traffic through the domestic 
police power, and that the State may take sole charge 
of the business." 

The present Grovernor of the State looks hopefully to 
the future. In his address to the Greneral Assembly 
on January 10th, 1899, he said: " The demoralization 
produced by the various causes mentioned can be 
readily overcome in time, and the law will work more 
successfully and be obeyed more willingly as time 
goes by. Our efforts should be especially directed to 
perfecting the system in its administrative features." 

The Act has from the first been bitterly opposed in 
the city of Charleston. Of the 185 persons in South 
Carolina, other than dispensers, who hold Internal 
Revenue licences to retail liquor for the year ending 
June 30th, 1899 (all of whom may therefore be assumed 



THE DISPENSARY SYSTEM 423 

to carry on a sale contrary to the State law), no fewer 
tlian 139 {i.e. all but 46) are in the city of Charleston. 
There is no more concealment practised about many of 
these illegal places of sale than about the saloons in the 
large cities of Maine. This defiance of the law may to 
some extent be a survival from the almost unrestricted 
sale during parts of the years 1894, 1897, and 1898, 
when the Dispensary Act was in the law courts and 
its legality not finally determined. In Charleston, 
however, it has, since the introduction of the system, 
been exceedingly difficult to secure convictions against 
those carrying on an illicit sale. No matter, it is said, 
how strong and complete the evidence, neither the 
G-rand Jury nor the Petty Jury will convict. Tem- 
perance sentiment in Charleston is not high, and it 
may be questioned whether the "safety-valve " of ten 
dispensaries for the '' off" sale only of liquor is, at the 
present time, sufficient. If "off" sales will not suffice, 
it would seem far better to have a restricted and con- 
trolled " on " sale in certain dispensaries than a wide- 
spread illicit sale. 

The Dispensaey System and Politics. 

In his recent visit, one of the present writers was 
assured by State officials and influential citizens 
representing widely different points of view, that the 
liquor interest had been predominant in municipal 
elections prior to the establishment of the Dispensary 
System, but that since its introduction this influence 
had been destroyed.^ These assurances accord with the 
declaration of a former Governor of the State, who, in 
his message of November, 1893, said : — " The local 

^ See further evidence on this point at p. 430. 



424 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

whisky rings, wliich liave been the cnrse of every 
municipality in the State, and have always controlled 
municipal elections, have been torn up root and branch, 
and the influence of the bar-keeper as a political 
manipulator is absolutely destroyed." 

This strong statement is quite consistent with the 
words employed by the present Grovernor (January 
10th, 1899) : — ^' The new system," he said, "has now 
been in force three years, and, in my opinion, it has 
failed to accomplish the purposes of its advocates. 
The idea was to divorce the Dispensary System from 
politics and to put it under a strictly business man- 
agement. No such result has followed. It is 
notorious that the Dispensary is as much or more in 
politics than it ever was." The apparent contra- 
diction is such for an English reader only. The 
reference is simply to the notorious " Spoils System " 
of American party politics. The Dispensary System 
is " in politics " merely in the sense in which any 
municipal undertaking — gas or water works or tram- 
ways — would be in politics if the posts in connection 
with these undertakings were given by preference to 
the adherents of one political party, instead of to the 
fittest men irrespective of party. In other words, the 
Dispensary System shares in that which is so often 
the bane of municipal government in the United 
States. In a better sense, too, the system is "in 
politics," as the discussion upon its merits is not yet 
closed, public opinion being divided between the 
relative merits of the Dispensary System, High 
Licence, and Prohibition. As a matter of fact, in 
South Carolina, as in Scandinavia, the taking of the 
trade out of private hands has destroyed its electoral 
power. 



THE DISPENSARY SYSTEM 425 



Results of the South Carolina State Monopoly. 

Certain advantages of the system are undeniable. 
It has the great merit which attaches to any system 
under which the liquor trade is taken out of private 
hands, namely, that administrative reforms which, 
under private licence, are either unattainable or can 
only be secured after an arduous national struggle, 
become at once easy of attainment. Not only has 
the ordinary saloon been abolished, but the places for 
the sale of drink have been greatly reduced in 
number, the hours of sale have been shortened, sales 
to minors are not allowed, sales on credit have been 
done away with, and gambling and the immoral 
accessories of the public-house no longer exist. The 
limitation of sale to sealed bottles which may not be 
opened on the premises does away with the ^' treating " 
habit. Further, the bar- tender having no induce- 
ment to push sales, the enforcement of bye-laws can 
be secured, and the domination of the whisky rings 
in politics has become a thing of the past. 

As compared, however, with the Norwegian system 
(to be described in a later chapter), to which that of 
South Carolina bears a superficial resemblance,^ the 
inferiority of the latter is strongly seen. Under 
the Norwegian system there is a much wiser adjust- 
ment of responsibility as between the State and the 
locality. In Norway the power of the State is 
severely restricted ; its function is to secure honest 

^ In its essence, the Soutli Carolina State monopolj" is more 
nearly related to the Eussian spirit monopoly, the regulation 
of the trafEc in both cases being under centralized State 
control, 



426 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

local administration and compliance with, tlie few 
broad conditions, imposed by statutory law, under 
which the localities carry on the traffic. Nor can the 
State open a single public-house. Within wide limits 
the towns are free to work out their own deliverance 
from the drink curse, and the intelligence and right 
feeling of the community are enlisted in the struggle 
with intemperance. In South Carolina, on the other 
hand, a locality, not prepared to adopt prohibition, 
cannot grapple directly with the problem of intem- 
perance in its midst ; the responsibility for the task 
is transferred to the State Board of Control. The 
principle of local management and control is ignored, 
and in consequence there can be no quick adaptation 
of means to ends. The rigidity of the system is 
illustrated by the fact that the Constitution of South 
Carolina limits all sale of alcoholic beverages to an 
"off" sale, so that if a town, in combating illicit 
trade, believed that the '' safety-valve " of a controlled 
" on " trade was necessar}^, the change could not be 
made.^ 

Alike in South Carolina and in Scandinavia the 
appropriation of the profits of the trade is open to 
objection. In neither country has the important 
principle been adequately recognised that the profits 
of the trade should be used directly to counteract the 
trade. 

^ It will be observed (p. 431) that the amendment to the 
Constitution of South Dakota does not limit sales to "off" 
sales. 



THE DISPENSARY SYSTEM 427 



NOETH CAROLINA. 

Population (1890) : Whites . 1,055,382 
Coloured . 562,565 



1,617,947 



In 1890 there were in North Carolina 44 towns or villages 
with a population above 1,000, viz. : — 
Wilmington with a population of 
Ealeigh „ „ 



Charlotte 


Asheville 


1 town 


1 „ 
1 » 

5 towns 


3 „ 

8 „ 


21 „ 



Dn of 


, 


. 


20,056 


?? 


. 


y 


12,676 


55 


. 


. 


11,557 


55 


. 


. 


10,235 


5) 


8,000 and under 


9,000 


5; 


7,000 




8,000 


'7 


5,000 




6,000 


?/ 


4,000 




5,000 


n 


3,000 




4,000 


J? 


2,000 




3,000 


V 


1,000 




2,000 



44 

Proportion of Urban and Eural Population. 
1890. 

Eural 96 per cent. 

Urban {i.e. populations above 8,000) . 4 „ 

North Carolina, in adopting the Dispensary System, 
has availed itself of the experience of South Carolina. 
In the latter State, as has been shown, the system is 
highly centralized ; while in North Carolina, as a 
Judge of the Superior Court has pointed out, it ''is 
intensely local in its operation and management, and 
its machinery is simple." There is no general State 
Dispensary law, but many counties and towns have 
obtained Bills from the State Legislature enabling 
them to adopt the system. The usual regulations 
provide that liquor before being offered for sale shall 



428 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

be analysed and found to be pure ; tbat it shall be 
sold in sealed bottles in quantities not less than a 
half-pint, that the sales shall not begin before sunrise 
nor be continued after sunset ; that no sales shall be 
made except for cash, and that no bottle shall be 
opened on the premises. Purchasers may, however 
buy without any formalities. 

The Rev. A. J. McKelway, pastor of the Presby- 
terian Church of Fayetteville (population 4,222 in 
1890), gives the following account of the early history 
of the system. In 1897 he, " in company with the 
other pastors of the town, began a movement for a 
dispensary there in place of the twelve saloons with 
which the town was afflicted. Blank petitions were 
sent to the ministers and church officers in the county, 
and in a little while were returned with a thousand 
names in all, praying the Legislature to pass a dis- 
pensary law for the county. The measure was hotly 
contested in the. Legislature by the Liquor Dealers' 
Association of the State, which seemed to recognise 
the danger of the movement to them, and advised 
its members in Fayetteville to join hands with the 
Prohibitionists and enact a Prohibition law rather 
than have a dispensary put into operation. But the 
Prohibitionists were not to be taken with guile. They 
unanimously supported the dispensary movement, and 
the Bill passed both branches of the Legislature." ^ 

The experiment was attended with great success ; 
not only the 12 saloons ^ in Fayetteville, but 19 dis- 
tilleries in the county went out of business. '' Statis- 

1 The Outlook (New York), April 8th, 1899. 
^ Presuniably one dispensarj^ for "off" sales only took the 
place of tlie twelve saloons. 



THE DISPENSARY SYSTEM 429 

tics showed that drunkenness, and the crimes resulting 
therefrom, decreased about one-half," and it was 
estimated that the consumption of liquor was reduced 
by two-thirds. 

Mr. McKelway adds : "In Charlotte " (population 
1890, 11,557), " the most progressive city of North 
Carolina, two ministers, two laymen, and the writer 
of this article met in conference and arranged for 
sending out circulars and blank petitions to the 
ministers of all the churches in the county. The 
movement spread like wildfire. Through the snow 
and sleet of the great blizzard the couriers went on 
horseback, from house to house, securing signatures. 
In Charlotte a mass-meeting was held, and more than 
a hundred citizens volunteered to go to Raleigh 
carrying the largest petition ^ ever signed in a North 
Carolina county, with 3,200 names of voters. The 
House passed the Bill unanimously, but it was defeated 
in the Senate, because the Senator from the county 
concerned had pledged himself to the saloon-keepers 
during the campaign. But the matter has been 
merely postponed, and it is only a question of time 
when the saloons in Charlotte and in North Carolina 
generally will be superseded by dispensaries or closed 
by Prohibition. In the smaller towns Prohibition 
will prevail. In the larger the dispensary will be 
advocated by the leaders of the reform as preferable 
even to Prohibition, for under Prohibition the danger 
of ' blind tigers ' ^ has to be taken into consideration. 
The ' blind tiger ' starves under the Dispensary Sys- 
tem." 2 

* Illicit liquor shops. 

^ While this is not the case in Charleston, South Carolina 
it appears to be true of the smaller towns in that State. 



430 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

ArLother correspondent of The Outlook ^'^ after two 
years' study of the system, states tliat it has elimin- 
ated the grog-shop influence from politics ; and, 
dwelling upon a point ever present to the best citizens 
in the United States, adds : " Wherever there are 
saloons, they become, if not the headquarters of 
political demagogues, the principal means by which 
they carry out their plans ; and usually, when the 
aggregated saloon interests are lined up in the active 
support of any man or measure, then, generally 
speaking, it is well for self-respecting voters to be on 
their guard against them. The Dispensary System 
effectually removes this evil. 

The dispensary as carried out in North Carolina 
marks an important advance in the evolution of the 
system. With the freedom of action secured to the 
localities, the prospects of its ultimate success are 
brighter than in the more southern State. Yet 
the framers of the North Carolina system do not ap- 
pear to have realized, as the people of Norway have 
done, what is the wise adjustment of the powers of 
the State and of the locality in which the fullest 
success is to be found. In Norway the State deter- 
mines the general appropriation of the profits, 
forbidding their use in aid of local rates. In North 
Carolina the profits are turned into the local public 
fund. In Norway the State, while not undertaking 
any local management, retains sufficient power to 
check local abuses. 

1 April 8tli, 1899. 



THE DISPENSARY SYSTEM 431 



SOUTH DAKOTA. 

Population (1890) : Whites . 327,290 
Coloured . 1,518 



Total . 328,808 



In 1890 there was only one town with, a population above 
8,000, viz. :— Sioux Falls, 10,177. 

Proportion of Urban and Eural Population. 
1890 :— 

Eural 97 per cent. 

Urban (i.e. populations above 8,000) . 3 ,, 

A similar experiment has been attempted in South 
Dakota. In November, 1898, the following amend- 
ment to the Constitution of the State was adopted : — 

^' The manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors 
shall be under exclusive State control, and shall be 
conducted by duly authorized agents of the State, 
who shall be paid by salary and not by commission. 
All liquors sold shall be first examined by a State 
chemist, and the purity thereof established." 

The present condition of the liquor laws in the 
State is altogether exceptional. The constitutional 
mandate was for the establishment of a South Dakota 
State Monopoly, but the House of Representatives 
acting, as it is openly stated, under the influence of 
the Sioux Falls Brewery, declined to pass the Dis- 
pensary Bill necessary to give effect to the constitu- 
tional amendment. The Courts have, on appeal, 
decided that, under these circumstances, the old 
licence law remains in force ; and the amendment to 
the constitution of the State is to be again voted 
upon in November, 1900. The Anti-Saloon League 



432 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

of South Dakota exerted all its influence to secure the 
adoption of the constitutional amendment. 



aEORGIA AND ALABAMA. 

The Dispensary System lias further spread to both 
Georgia ^ and Alabama,^ and considerable districts 
are under its operation. 

Results of the Dispensary System. 

In the spring of 1899 the directors of the Massa- 
chusetts Total Abstinence Society, desiring to secure 
additional information about the Dispensary plan of 
managing the liquor traffic in the States which had 
more recently adopted it, instructed a committee to 
send out inquiries. The committee agreed upon the 
questions below, and sent them to prominent people 
in the States where the system is in use or provided 
for : — 

I. What is your estimate of the value of the so-called 
dispensary plans for the sale of liquor^ as operated in 
your State f 

II. Are the results growing better as the years ad- 
vance ? 

III. Is the effect salutary on the poorest classes in 
your communities ? 

IV. Is there an apparent increase in illicit traffic in 
liquors ? 

V. Will you Mndly give us your sharpest criticisms 
of the Dispensary System ? 

1 See p. 260. ^ g^g p^ 278. 



THE DISPENSARY SYSTEM 433 

The Temperance Cause ^ the monthly organ of the 
Society, thus summarises the results of the inquiry : — 
^' To the first question there are twenty- five answers 
— eighteen in favour of the system and seven opposed ; 
to the second, twenty-two answers — seventeen favour- 
able, fiYQ opposed ; to the fourth, seventeen answers — 
eleven favourable, six otherwise. In all there are 
eighty-five answers, of which sixty, or seventy per 
cent., are favourable, and twenty-five, or twenty-nine 
per cent., unfavourable, but sometimes with important 
qualifications." ^ 

* The Temperance Cause ^ July, 1899. 



28 



CHAPTER Ylll 
The Scandinavian Experiments 

In the preparation of this chapter the writers have relied, to a 
considerable extent, upon information obtained by them in 
the course of personal investigations in Sweden and Norway 
in June and July, 1898. These investigations have been 
supplemented by a close examination of the numerous 
sources of information available on the subject. 

The purpose of the chapter is not so much to give an 
account of the Swedish and Norwegian systems — a work 
which has alreadj'- been well carried out by many writers — 
as to indicate the bearing of the Scandinavian experiments 
upon the Temperance problem in this country. 

For the English equivalents of the foreign moneys and 
measures named in this chapter the reader is referred to 
page 736. 

THE liquor legislation of Sweden and Norway 
during the past hundred years affords a re- 
markable illustration of the power of law both to 
stimulate and to lessen the consumption of alcoholic 
drinks. 

Amidst much that is the subject of controversy in 
connection with the Scandinavian liquor laws, the 
broad facts are not disputed that, in Sweden, the con- 
sumption of spirits per head of the population is little 
more than a third of what it was in 1850 ; and that 
in Norway the annual consumption of spirits is only 
one-half of what it was in 1876, and probably little 
more than a fifth of what it was in 1833. Norway 

454 



THE SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIMENTS 435 

is, indeed, now tlie most temperate country in Europe.^ 
These results have been brought about by the joint 
action of Temperance effort and of wise national legis- 
lation ; the former could have done little without 
the latter, and in both Sweden and Norway its main 
service has been in creating the public opinion which 
was essential alike for the enactment, the enforcement, 
and the progressive improvement of wise and strong 
public law. 

It may be noted here that, until a comparatively 
recent date, spirits ^ in both Sweden and Norway were 
the ^' only alcoholic beverage of the lower classes ; the 
consumption of beer being almost confined to the upper 
and middle classes, and rarely used by them to the 
extent of intemperance." Beer was, in fact, regarded 
as a Temperance beverage. Spirit-drinking has been 
a national custom in Sweden for three hundred years. 



SWEDEN 

The extraordinary consumption of spirits in Sweden 
throughout a large portion of the first half of the 
present century was due to what was practically free 
trade in the manu.facture as well as in the sale of 
spirits. At the commencement of the nineteenth 
century it was enacted that in Sweden the right of 
distillation should go with the soil ; i.e. it should 
belong to those who possessed or cultivated land, and 

* See p. 74. 

^ The native spirit of tlie Scandinavians is commonly called 
' branvin," generally translated into English as " brandy." 
"When, therefore, in this chapter the word is used, it must be 
understood as referring to a liquor distilled from potatoes or 
corn, and containing from 40 per cent, to 50 per cent, of alcohol, 



436 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

ten years later the privilege was extended to tenants 
and other persons resident in the country, if the owner 
of the estate gave them leave. As a result of this 
legislation, the number of stills in Sweden paying 
licence had in 1829 reached the enormous number of 
173,124, being at the rate of one to every seventeen of 
the population. In 1895-6 the number was 132. Mr. 
David Carnegie, of Gothenburg, in his evidence before 
the Lords' Committee on Intemperance (1879), speak- 
ing of Sweden, said : '' When the home distillation 
was allowed, it was a miserable state of things. One 
peasant would set his still going one week, and invite 
his neighbours to come in, and they were sure to do 
so, and all would get drunk together, and the follow- 
ing week his neighbours v/ould begin." 

In 1855, according to Dr. Sigfrid "Wieselgren, the 
very careful and well-informed Director of Prisons in 
Sweden, about 5-9 (English) gallons of native brandy 
were consumed per head of a population of about 
3,500,000. At that time, as now, women rarely in- 
dulged in brandy drinking. Estimating, then, that 
one-half, or 1,750,000, of the population were females, 
and that of the other half about 600,000 were under 
the drinking age, which may be put at fifteen years, 
only about 1,150,000 of the total population could be 
reckoned as brandy drinkers. The average yearly 
consumption of the latter would then be 18 (English) 
gallons. 

The combined effects of free distillation and free 
sale were appalling. " The very marrow of the nation 
was sapped ; moral and physical degradation, insanity, 
poverty, and crime, family ties broken up, brutal 
habits — all those grim legions that ever range them- 



THE SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIMENTS 437 



selves under the banner of intemperance — took pos- 
session of tlie land." ^ 

It has been stated ^ that for the ten years between 
1841 and 1850, no fewer than 3646 per cent, of the 
conscripts were unfit for military service. The follow- 
ing figures, supplied by the Statistical Department of 
Stockholm, show the number of conscripts rejected on 
account of unfitness for military service from 1831 to 
1890 :— 

1831-1840 .... 35-7 per cent. 

1841-1850 



1851-1860 
1861-1870 

1871-1880 
1881-1890 



36-4 
35-7 

27-8 
23-7 
20-4 



The wretched condition of the country produced at 
last a powerful Temperance movement, which resulted, 
twenty years later, in the epoch-making law of 1855. 
Peter Wieselgren, Dean of Gothenburg, a large- 
hearted, learned, and eloquent man, was the leader of 
the popular movement. The Swedish Temperance 
Society was established in 1837, and soon hundreds of 
branch societies were formed. More and more pledged 
themselves to abstain from spirituous liquors, literature 
was issued, medical men took up the cause ; and peti- 
tions began to pour in upon the king, Oscar I., himself 
a champion of Temperance. It is important to observe 
that the struggle was not confined to members of the 
Temperance League, but enlisted the support of mode- 
rate consumers. 

The Law of 1855 was a simple measure ; one section 
of it dealt with the distillation^ and the other with the 

^ Sigfrid "Wieselgren, The Liquor Laws of Sweden, 1835 to 1885. 
2 "Whyte, The Gothenburg mid Bergen Public-house /Systems. 



438 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



sale of spirits. Provision was made that tlie old stills 
for domestic use should be abolished^ and replaced 
by distilleries on a larger scale, and subject to a 
higher excise duty. With regard to sales, the Act 
gave to every commune the power to decide with 
regard to both the Bar (''On") and Retail ("Off") 
sale, "not only in what manner, and within what 
limits, the trade should be carried on, but also whether 
it might take place at all within its jurisdiction." ^ 

The effect of the new law in the rural districts ^ was 
soon apparent. Dr. Wieselgren sa^^s : — 

" Before 1855, brandy could be bought in almost 
every cottage ; in 1856, one might travel 
throLigh whole provinces without finding a 
single place where it was sold." 

There are in Sweden about 2,400 rural parishes, and 
it is estimated that in 1856 — i.e. in the year imme- 
diately following the passing of the Act — more than 
1,800 of these decided to have no places for either the 
'* On " or " Off" sale of spirits.^ 

^ In 1860 there still remained 2,889 distilleries, but the follow- 
ing year the small distilleries had ceased to exist, and in 1861 
the number was reduced to 590. In 1896 the number was 132. 

^ For the method of effecting local option see Appendix, p. 716. 

3 In a letter to the present writers, under date February, 1899, 
Dr. Wieselgren says : " The towns as commercial places found 
themselves not able to make use of their right." 

* The total number of Spirit Licences in Eural Sweden in 
1856 and in 1895-6 was as under :— 



Year. 


Ordinary Bar 
Tj i. M »Q|r„ Licences sub- 
Itetaai Ult ject to opera- 
Licences, •'tion of Local 
Veto. 


"Privileged" 

Bar Licences 

conferred for 

one or two 

Lives, 


Casual Licences 

issued to 
tourist steam- 
boats and for 
resorts. 


1856 . . 
1895-6 . . 


64 

27 


82 
33 


411 
95 


132 

96 



THE SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIMENTS 439 

Density of Population in Sweden 

In view of the close connection which, has already 
been shown to exist between density of population and 
the success or failure of certain forms of Temperance 
legislation, it may be well, before proceeding further, 
to examine the distribution of population in Sweden. 

The country stretches for nearly one thousand miles 
between latitude 55° and 69° N. But the entire popu- 
lation in 1896 was less than five millions,^ distributed 
at the rate of 29 persons to the square mile. 

The growth and distribution of the population are 
illustrated by the following figures : — 

Number of Persons 
to the Square Mile. 

15 



1820 
1850 

1870 
1896 



20 
24 
29 



In England and Wales there are 497 persons to the 
square mile, in Belgium 533, in Switzerland 189, and 
in Russia 49. 



Peopoetion of Ueban and Eueal Population. 

The division between the Rural and Urban popula- 
tion is as follows : — 





* Population of Sweden. 




1800 . 


. 2,347,303 


1860 . . 


3,859,728 


1810 . 


. 2,377,851 


1870 . . 


4,168,528 


1820 . 


. 2,584,690 


1880 . . 


4,565,668 


1830 . 


. 2,888,082 


1890 . . 


4,784,981 


1840 . 


. 3,138,887 


1896 . . 


4,962 568 


1850 . 


. 3,482,541 







440 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

1896. 
Urban 1 . . 1,003,798 . 20 per cent. 
Eural . . . 3,958,770 . 80 „ 



4,962,568 




In 1875 the division was : — 




1875. 




Urban. . . 613,506 . 


14 per cent. 


Rural . . . 3,769,785 . 


, 86 „ 



4,383,291 

Over tbe wide and tbinly peopled districts of 
Sweden, in wbich 80 per cent, of its people live, the 
option of the communes in 1855-6 in so generally 
closing the places where spirits were sold appears to 
have been attended with excellent results. There has 
been little evasion of the law, no difficulty through 
the formation of drinking clubs, no driving of the 
traffic below the surface. Forty-three years have 
now passed since the policy was adopted, and through- 
out this period it has received, what is a high sanction 
for any law, the steady support of the people. 

To prevent misconception as to the conditions under 
which this experiment has been carried on, it is to 
be noted that it was the common traffic in the sale of 
spirits that was stopped by the rural communes — 
there was no restriction upon their importation direct 
to the consumer.^ The constant temptation to the use 

^ The distinction between " Urban " and " Eural " in Sweden 
is technical and administrative, and many places are included 
in the category of towns which have extremely small popula- 
tions. Adopting the United States line of division, and describ- 
ing as Urban only populations numbering 8,000 and upwards, 
the division in Sweden in 1896 would be. Urban 16 per cent, and 
Eural 84 per cent. 

^ With regard to the probable consumption of spirits in the 



THE SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIMENTS 441 

of spirits was removed, but no sumptuary law pro- 
hibiting tlieir use was attempted. 

The table on page 442 gives the per capita consump- 
tion of branvin and beer in Sweden for a number of 
years. It is to be regretted that these statistics are 
less full than those of Norway, and that no figures are 
available, prior to 1887-8, showing the proportion of 
the national sales made by the bolags. Beer has been 
altogether outside the sphere of the company system. 

The Problem of the Towns. 

In Sweden, however, as in other countries, it was 
the intemperance of the towns which presented pro- 
blems of extreme difficulty. In them the policy of 
prohibition was not adopted. Whether this arose, as 
has been suggested, from the large number of houses 
in the towns held upon what were called permanent 
tenures, or from a recognition of the impracticability 
of carrying out in the large towns a prohibition 
policy, is not apparent. The condition of the towns 
became deplorable, for in addition to the absence of 
effective regulations for the control of the traffic 
there, the problem was further aggravated by the 
influx of customers from the neighbouring prohibition 
districts. 

The Act of 1855 had, it is true, conferred upon 
municipalities the right, if they so desired, to transfer 
to a Company the whole of the bar and retail licences 
which would otherwise have been sold by auction to 
private licensees, but no municipality had, so far, 
availed itself of its powers in this direction. Thus it 

rural districts of Sweden, see the corresponding question in con- 
nection with Norway discussed at page 489 (foot-note). 



Consumption of Branvin and Beer in Sweden. 





Branvin 50 per cent. 

alcohol. Litres per 

head of the popn- 

lation. 




Beer. Litres 

per head 

of the 

population. 


1829 

1850 

1856-60 

1861-65 


46 Estimated ^ 

22 

9-5 Actual 2 

10-6 

8-8 
10-3 
10-5 
10-9 
11-8 
13-5 
12-4 
12-4 
10-6 
10-5 

8-8 

81 

8-8 

8-0 

6-8 

8-0 

8-4 

7-8 „ 

7-0 „ 

7-5 

6-2 

7-0 

6-4 

6-5 

6-7 

6-9 

6-9 

7-2 

7*5 

8-0 „ 


In 1829 the number of Stills 
was 173,124, 

By 1855 the number of Stills 
had fallen to 3,481. Under 
the law of 1855 power of 
local option was given to 
the communes. 


11-1 


1866-70 




10-7 


1870 




11-1 


1871 




12-1 


1872 




15*2 


1873 




16'2 


1874 




151 


1875 




16-4 


1876 




15-9 


1877 




17-0 


1878 




20*5 


1879 




16-4 


1880 




16*2 


1881 




18-3 


1882 





15-8 


1883 


. 


16-8 


1884 




20-8 


1885 
1886 


In the autumn of 1885 the 
minimum of a wholesale 
sale was raised from 39? 
litres to 250 litres. 


20-3 
221 


1887 
1888 





22-7 
27-2 


1889 




28-2 


1890 
1891 





27-4 
30-9 


1892 




30*8 


1893 




31-6 


1894 




33-0 


1895 




35-5 


1896 




42-4 


1897 




45-0 


1898 













* Tlie estimates for the years 1829 and 1850 are taken from 
a return drawn up hj N. Sandell, quoted bj^ Dr. Wieselgren in 
his La Lutte contre VAlcoolisine en Suede. The various esti- 
mates differ widely. The only certain thing about the con- 
sumption of these years is that it was very great. 

^ The official statistics of the national consumption of branvin 

443 



THE SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIMENTS 443 

happened that in 1856 the towns possessed 584 "Off" 
and 1,170 " On" licences against 64 of the former and 
493 of the latter in the rural districts. 

Mr. Edwin Goadby, in his valuable pamphlet upon 
the Grothenburg Licensing System, writing of the 
condition of Gothenburg at this time, says : — 

"It is the dark sky that brings the apostle and 
makes his background at the same time. The first 
Gothenburg apostle was Dr. Peter Wieselgren, Dean 
of the city. Moved by the misery about him, he got 
up a petition to the magistrates in 1862, signed by 
8,800 persons, the majority of them being poor people, 
to their credit be it said, to prohibit the sale of spirits 
on Sundays and holidays, or to limit the sale to meal 
times. An eloquent report accompanied the petition. 
The magistrates said they could take no steps in the 
matter." In 1863, however, a new Communal law 
was passed by the Diet, and a real Town Council was 
formed. Another apostle then appeared, who still 
lives, Dr. S. A. Hedlund, editor of the Gothenburg 
Handelstidning. He proposed that the pauperism of 
the town should be investigated by a Committee. It 
was appointed, and ably presided over by Mr. Oscar 
Ekman, and did its work thoroughly, reporting the 
next year, i.e. in 1865. " The committee found much 
moral and material degradation, poor dwellings, people 
in rags, public-houses evading the law as to selling 
food, 2,161 cases of conviction for drunkenness in 1864, 
and 104 cases of delirium tremens. Everything was 
traced to brandy, always brandy. There were 60 
public-houses with spirit licences in existence, 50 of 
which were resorted to by the working classes. 

date from 1855, but prior to 1870 can only be obtained in quin- 
quennial loeriods. 



444 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

Holders transferred tliem and lived on the proceeds as 
a pension." ^ 

To remedy this state of things the Committee 
proposed that the authorities, making use of the right 
accorded them by the Act of 1855, should hand over 
the licences hitherto disposed of by auction to a 
company consisting of persons who would engage in 
the undertaking, not for the sake of profit but solely 
for the good of the working classes ; that the share- 
holders should not derive the slightest profit from the 
concern, beyond the ordinary rate of interest for the 
capital invested, but that all profits accruing there- 
from should be devoted to the welfare of the working 
classes, or transmitted to the town treasury. This 
proposal was accepted. Twenty highly respected 
firms and private individuals formed a Bolag or Com- 
pany, which on October 1st, 1865, began its operations, 
an example which was speedily followed in other 
towns. 

Mr. James "Whyte, the Secretary of the United 
Kingdom Alliance, in referring to the establishment 
of the Company System, says: ''The Gothenburg 
' Bolag,' or Company, was formed in the faith that 
a body of honest and intelligent men, deeply moved 
by the sins and sorrows of which the liquor traffic 
was the unfailing source, would, if they undertook to 
conduct the traffic for no profit or emolument of their 
own, but for the public good, be able to prevent, or 
at least to greatly mitigate, the terrible evils which 
experience has shown to be inseparable from the 

* Those who desire a detailed account of the formation of the 
Company may be referred to The Gothenburg System, 1881, by 
Dr. Sigfrid Wieselgren, who is the highest authority upon 
matters connected with its history. 



THE SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIMENTS 445 

common sale of drink when carried on for private 
personal gain. I am convinced that the spirit in 
which the founders of the Bolag acted is worthy of 
the warmest commendation. They did what they 
could. They acted up to their convictions. And their 
failures — for they have partially failed — are like those of 
other honest people^ lights on the way of progress.^'' 

The last words, which the present writers have 
italicized, are both wise and timely. For the experi- 
ence to be gained from the operation of the Company 
System in Sweden and Norway has been obscured by 
indiscriminate praise on the one hand, and by indis- 
criminate attack on the other. The experiment of 
taking the drink traffic out of private hands was a 
novel experiment attended with many difEculties, and 
no body of men, however able and honest, were likely, 
in the first instance, to see its full bearing, or to con- 
duct it without making mistakes. 

Essential Features of the Company System. 

It may be well, before describing the working of 
the Company System in Gothenburg, briefly to con- 
sider what are its essential principles. If these are 
kept clearly in mind, it will enable us to determine 
how much of its success has been due to the system 
itself, and how far the imperfect results achieved ai^ 
the consequence, either of a neglect of the fundamental 
principles of the system, or are due to accidental causes, 
local or temporary. This continual mental recurrence 
to the essential principles of the system is the more 
necessary, as, to quote Mr. Whyte, the Company 
System has only had "a very partial and imperfect 
trial in Gothenburg." 



446 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

(a) Elimination of Private Profit. 

There are important differences between tlie Com- 
pany System in Sweden and the Company System in 
Norway, and in each country the different Companies 
have their special regulations ; yet, in common par- 
lance, the term "Gothenburg System" is used as 
descriptive of the whole — Gothenburg having been 
the first large place which adopted the Company 
System.^ But the principle which underlies the 
entire Company System in Scandinavia is the elimi- 
nation of private profit from the sale of drhik. 

The Gothenburg Committee, whose investigations 
led to the formation of the Company, stated in their 
report that, " The worst enemy of the morals and 
well-being of the working classes in this community 
is brandy. Yet it is not the intoxicating liquor only, 
and its moderate consumption, which causes demorali- 
zation and poverty ; it is the disorder, evil tempta- 
tions, and opportunities for every kind of iniquity 
with which public-house life abounds, that contribute 
mainly to this unhappy state of things. Neither local 
enactments 7ior police surveillance can do much so long 
as puhlic-houses are in the hands of private individuals^ 
who find their profit in encouraging intemperance^ with- 
out regard for age or youth, rich or poor.^^ 

The Prime Minister of Sweden put the same thought 

^ As early, however, as 1850, a company had been founded in 
the small town of Falun on the principle of conducting the 
liquor traffic by a company, regardless of gain or advantage to 
its members, and later, at Jonkoping, a company had been 
established for the sale of liquor over the bar, on practically the 
same foundation. It is interesting to know that these small 
experiments suggested the Company System to the framers of 
the Act of 1855. 



THE SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIMENTS 447 

into different words. " It stands to reason," lie said, 
'^ tliat when a private individual engages in the brandy 
trade, as well as in any other, his interests will induce 
him to sell as much as he can ; whereas the Companies, 
if they properly fulfil their mission — and happily our 
country can boast of many such — need never be 
influenced by selfish motives." 

(b) Easy Enforcement of Laic. 

But whilst the elimination of private profit from 
the sale is the central thought in the Company 
System, two subordinate considerations have a great 
place in its policy. It is often said that, in this 
country, what is needed is not so much any new law 
as the strict enforcement of those now in existence. 
Conscientious Watch Committees can doubtless do 
much to prevent the more obvious violations of the 
law ; although even in these cases, the very thorough- 
ness of the effort made may tend to defeat the object 
in view. Mr. Chamberlain has recorded ^ how " the 
Watch Committee of the Town Council of Birming- 
ham — finding that drunkenness was by far the most 
frequent offence in the force under their control, and 
that while they were compelled weekly to fine and 
dismiss constables for intoxication while on duty, the 
persons supplying them with drink escaped undetected 
and unpunished — determined, in February last, to 
appoint five special inspectors, carefully selected and 
highly paid, to see that the provisions of the Licens- 
ing Acts were carried out in the borough. Already 
this appointment has resulted in the prosecution of 
twenty licensed persons in two months for suppljdng 
drunken people and police constables on duty with 
* The Right Method tvith the Publicans (187G), p. 7. 



448 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

drink, and for permitting gaming, against ten, the 
total number proceeded against for these offences in 
1875. But the action of the Watch Committee has 
roused the bitter hostility of the publicans, who have 
held indignation meetings, and formed an electoral 
association to secure the return to the Town Council of 
representatives pledged to the support of the ' right- 
eous privilege ' of the liquor-seller to set the law at de- 
fiance. In boroughs where parties are evenly divided, 
it is too much to expect that either side will incur the 
reprobation of a powerful trade which furnishes one 
householder to every thirty, and each member of which 
boasts that he can bring five voters to the poll." 

The reader will already have seen in the chapter on 
Prohibition how continually, and upon how large a 
scale, the drink-sellers in the United States are able to 
violate the laws for the regulation of the trade by the 
capture of the local administration. Occasionally in 
this country individuals undertake, at their own risk, 
to attempt to enforce the law ; but the task is arduous, 
and accompanied with no little financial risk. ^ 

Under the Company System, all these difficulties 

1 On Saturday, the 11th of February, 1893, Miss M. E. Phillips, 
a member of the Society" of Friends, resident in Tottenham, saw 
a man, whom she believed to be very drunk, served in a public- 
house, and called the attention of a policeman to the fact, ask- 
ing him to get her the man's name and address. The policeman 
told her he would have to report the case to the inspector. The 
inspector afterwards called on Miss Phillips and told her that 
the police would not take any action. She then took out a 
summons herself, but, when it was heard, the policeman swore 
that the man was sober, and that he had told Miss Phillips so. 
Ten other men were ready to swear that the man was sober, 
and the case was dismissed. Miss Phillips was then served 
with two writs, one for slander hy the man whom she believed 
to have been drunk, and the other for slander and malicious 



THE SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIMENTS 449 

are avoided, since the elimination of private profit 
has effectually destroyed the ordinary inducements to 
violate the law. Should a manager, for any cause, 
fail to carry out the bye-laws of the Company, his 
dismissal can instantly be effected. There is no 
laborious collection of legal evidence, no costly trial, 
no risk of a counter-charge, carrying heavy damages. 
(c) Progressive Reforms Facilitated. 

One other consideration of a general character may 
be mentioned here — Sunday closing, reduction of the 
number of licensed houses, the shortening of the hours 
of sale, and the non-serving of children, are reforms 
which the Temperance party in this country have at 
heart, and to secure which a laborious national agita- 
tion, extending over years, has not sufficed. 

In Sweden and Norway, changes of this kind have 
been easily, almost noiselessly, accomplished. For 
when a Company has satisfied itself of the wisdom of 
any of these reforms, it becomes a mere matter of 
administration to give effect to them. The severance 
of private interest from the liquor traffic, together 
with its local administration, make such prompt 
changes possible. They could not have been so carried 

prosecution by the publican. Acting under legal advice, Miss 
Phillips settled with the man ; this case costing her about £55. 
In the case of the publican, who claimed £2,500, the trial took 
place in the Court of Queen's Bench before Mr. Justice Wills 
and a special jury, on the 364th day after the writ had been 
served. Miss Phillips obtained a verdict. But although costs 
followed the verdict. Miss Phillips was put to an outlay in con- 
nection with this case of about £100. It transpired in court 
that the publican had previously been convicted of selling 
drink to a drunken woman, and fined £10 and costs. 

This case illustrates both the ruinous risk and the long 
harass and anxiety to which those subject themselves who seek 
the enforcement of the Licensing Laws. 

29 



450 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

out had it been necessary to appeal to tlie Swedish 
Diet, and to consider the interests of private dealers. 

Briefly, the elimination of private profit from the 
trade is the central principle of the Company System, 
while the power of enforcing the strict observance 
of bye-laws, and of quickly adapting regulations to 
local requirements, are resultant practical benefits of 
great importance. 

THE COMPANY SYSTEM IN GOTHENBURG. 

Population— (1866) 47,332, (1875) 59,986, (1897) 117,534 
"We now revert to the history of the Gothenburg 
Company, to which the town had handed over the 
licences hitherto disposed of at auction. The Com- 
pany undertook to carry on the trade solely for the 
good of the working classes, without any view to 
private profit ; the shareholders were to receive nothing 
beyond 6 per cent. ^ (the current rate of interest in the 
country in 1865) upon the capital invested, and all 

* Mr. Whyte summarily disposes of the charge that there 
was " any taint of greed or self-seeking" in the rate of interest 
charged. "It is mere nonsense," he says, "to talk of the 6 per 
cent., which was to be paid on the monej^ actually advanced, as 
having been an object of any importance to the Company, which 
was composed of about twenty of the leading citizens in Gothen- 
burg." " The total amount of capital to be employed was 
about £11,000, and only £6,900 has been called up. The yearly 
interest on that amount at 6 iDer cent, is only £414, or, on the 
average, about £21 a year to each shareholder. It is not to be 
thought of for a moment that the fear of having that paltry 
amount reduced a pound or two would prevent such men from 
doing their best to carry out the object for which the Company 
was formed — the promotion of sobriety in Gothenburg." See 
The Gothenburg and Bergen Public-house Systems, p. 15. 

The current rate of interest in Sweden is now lower than in 
1865, and, under the Act of May 24th, 1895, the interest paid to 
the shareholders must not exceed 5 per cent. 



THE SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIMENTS 451 

profits accruing from the sales were to be paid over 
to the town treasury. 

(a) Reduction in the Numher of Licences. 

In 1865, 36 public-house licences were handed over 
to the Bolag, and as the terms of the remaining 
" On " licences expired, they also were transferred to 
the Company ; so that by 1868 the Company had ac- 
quired the whole number of 61 " On " licences of 
which the town had the disposal. ^ The Company 
made use of these as follows : — 
Appropriated for public-houses 27 
Transferred by Company to 

hotels, clubs, restaurants . . 



Vi 



43, being one to 

every 1,172 of 

the population ; 
whilst the number not used was 18 

61 

In 1896-7 the number of " On " licences was still 
61, which were made use of as follows : — 
Appropriated for public-houses 18 
Do. do. eating-houses 4 

Transferred by Company to 

hotels, clubs, restaurants 



'} 



20 



42, being one to 

every 2,798 of 

the population ; 
whilst the number not used was 19 

61 

^ At the formation of the Company there were also five 
''privileged" licences ("On") in existence. These, which are 
not at the disposal of the town authorities, have since been 
reduced to two. 



452 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

It will thus be seen that, in its first year, the Bolag 
voluntarily abandoned 18 of its public-house licences 
and commenced operations with one public-house to 
every 1,172 of the population. Twenty-eight years 
later, when the population of Grothenburg had more 
than doubled, the number of public-houses had been 
further reduced by one, being in 1896-7 at the rate 
of one to every 2,798 of the population. In many 
countries there have been sudden reductions in the 
number of licensed houses, but the point of special 
interest in the above figures lies in the evidence they 
afford of a persistent progressive policy maintained 
over a long term of years. The Bola also holds 30 
Eetail ("Off") licences, 7 of which are used by itself 
and 23 sub-let to wine merchants. The licence of the 
latter does not permit the sale of branvin within the 
city of Grothenburg in a smaller quantity than 55 
gallons. ^ The number of " Retail " licences in rela- 
tion to the population is considerably less than it was 
in 1874, when the Company first obtained possession of 
them. 

(b) Character of the Drinh Shops. 

The ordinary dram shops of the Bolag are plainly 

^ The intention of the licence was to forbid the sale of 
branvin in the city except at wholesale, whilst allowing the 
sale of wine and " Superior Spirits." The present writers, in 
the course of their investigation, were informed that the terms 
of the licence are evaded and that the " cognac " sold by the 
wine merchants in litre bottles is the native spirit, coloured 
and strengthened. The litre bottles are sold at 1 kr. 65 ore 
(Is. lOd.). This sale is named as an important factor in the 
drunkenness of the city. If the facts are as thus represented, 
they call for the attention of the authorities of the Bolag. 
Branvin is sold at 1 kr. 10 ore (Is. 2^d.) per litre, the customer 
supplying the bottle. 



THE SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIMENTS 453 

furnislied. There are no flaring gas-lights or brilliant 
mirrors ; externally, many of the houses might be 
mistaken for offices, and even the stranger inquiring 
into the system may not infrequently pass them by 
without recognition. 

Mr. Chamberlain, referring to his own visit to 
Gothenburg in 1876, writes : ^ 

"It would be impossible to imagine a greater con- 
trast than is presented by the gin-palaces in some of 
our large cities and the unpretending buildings in 
which the trade is carried on in Grothenburg. After 
visiting a number of these houses, and finding them 
all of the same character, I said to the Chief of Police 
who was accompanying me : ' I have seen enough 
of this sort of house. Now take me, if you please, to 
the worst house in the worst corner of Gothenburg.' 
' You are there now,' was his reply. ' This house is 
on the quays frequented by the lowest grade of the 
maritime population. In old days it was the haunt 
of prostitutes and bad characters of every kind, and 
a constant scene of riot and disorder. You can judge 
for yourself of the change effected.' 

'' I can only say that the place in which I was then 
would compare favourably with any average public- 
house in any of our great cities. I gather from Dr. 
Gould's report that the state of things has certainly 
not altered for the worse during the last eighteen 
years, for he says that gambling and immorality have 
been entirely disassociated from the public-house." 

Upon this last point, which is of great importance, 
the evidence is decisive, and it applies equally to 
Norway and Sweden. Dr. E. R. L. Gould, in referring 
to the matter, says : " To say positively, without fear 

^ Introduction to Popular Control of the Liquor Traffic. 



454 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

of controversion in the smallest detail, tliat gambling 
and sexual immorality have been entirely disasso- 
ciated from the public-house under the Scandinavian 
system, is to sound no uncertain note of praise." ^ 

(c) Reduction in the Hours of Sale. 
"While the law allows the sale of brandy over the 
bar to continue until 10 p.m., the Gothenburg Company 
closes its bars at 6 p.m. in winter and 7 p.m. in summer. 
The higher-grade divisions of the Company's shops 
remain open two hours later, during which time non- 
native spirits only are supplied, and then only with 
food. All serving of brandy on Sundays and holidays, 
and after 6 p.m. on evenings preceding such days, is 
prohibited, with the exception of one dram if served 
with a meal at the eating-houses between 1 and 3 p.m. 
The Retail ("Off") shops are open from 9 a.m. till 6 
p.m. They are closed during the whole of Sunday. 
The importance of this early closing will be evident 
from the fact that in the large cities of our own 
country a considerable proportion of the trade is done 
after 7 p.m. Observation of certain public-houses in 
a "West London street in a poor district showed that 
upwards of 40 per cent, of the total number of persons 
entering the house in the course of the day entered 
after 7 p.m.^ 

(d) Bale of Liquor to Young People. 

The law forbids selling brandy to persons under the 
age of 15, while the Company has voluntarily raised 
the age limit to 18, thus excluding young persons 
from the licensed houses three years longer than is 
prescribed by law. 

^ Popular Control of the Liquor Traffic^ p. 19. 
^ See Life in West London, pp. 130-136. 



THE SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIMENTS 455 

(e) Tlie EstaUisTiment of Eating -Houses. 

The Company has established four eating-houses, 
which cater almost exclusively for working men. 
They are large, well-conducted and very popular. 
The writers visited the principal one, near to the 
Docks, on June 8th, 1898, and were informed that on 
the previous day 964 portions of food had been sold. 
In consequence of this great demand, this place was to 
be enlarged and another opened near at hand. One 
dram of spirits only is allowed (on paying for it) with 
each meal. When these houses were first opened, 
nearly every customer took a dram with his meals, but 
now not more than one-half of the customers do so. 
The loss on the Company's eating-houses in 1897 was 
£381. 

(f) The EstahUshment of Reading Rooms. 

Seven free Eeading-Eooms have also been provided 
by the Company, in which no intoxicants except small 
beer are sold. They are well supplied with papers and 
books. Tea, coffee, milk, aerated waters and light 
refreshments are sold at low rates. These unpretend- 
ing but useful rooms,^ which in 1897 cost 11,684 ^ 

^ Eeferring to their notebooks, tlie present writers find the 
following entries : " The room {i.e. the one first visited) measures 
approximately 27 feet by 24, and is bright and attractive ; it is 
well supplied with papers, viz., 4 daily, 9 weekly, 4 fortnightly, 
8 monthly, and 1 quarterly. The library has 273 volumes. 
Writing materials are supplied free. The room is open from 
7 a.m. to 8 and 9 p.m. The attendance in winter is from 6,000 
to 7,000 a month; in summer from 4,000 to 5,000." Another 
Eeading-Eoom subsequently visited was equally attractive, and 
similar in its general equipment. 

2 The seventh Eeading-Eoom was opened in Maj^, 1898, and 
for this purpose the annual grant was increased to 16,000 kroner. 



456 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

kroner (£649) to maintain, and have an annual atten- 
dance of over 300,000, are altogether distinct from the 
excellent Free Library of Gothenburg, which may be 
compared with the free libraries of English cities. 
The case of the Reading-Eooms is interesting as being 
an early suggestion of the right method of appropriat- 
ing such portion of the profits of the Trade as is not 
paid into the national exchequer. They are here used 
in directly combating intemperance, through satisfy- 
ing, to some extent, the craving for recreation apart 
from the public-house. 

(g) The Consumptio7i of Spirits. 

It is impossible to state with entire accuracy the 
effect that has been produced on the consumption of 
spirits by the population of Gothenburg through the 
action of the Bolag. The Company's sales consist of 
the "Bar" or public-house trade, and the Retail or 
"Off" sale. But Gothenburg is surrounded by a 
prohibition zone, and large Retail ("Off") sales are 
made to the villagers who come into the town. It is 
therefore evident that the total sales represent far 
more than merely local consumption.^ The most 
certain test of the influence of the controlling system 
in reducing consumption is that furnished by the bar 
sales, and these show a remarkable reduction in the 
25 years from 1875 ^ to 1899, as will be seen from the 

^ It is estimated by the Bolag authorities that at least one- 
half of the Retail (''Off") sales represent extra-local consump- 
tion. 

2 "In the Act of 1855 an unfortunate clause had given all 
shopkeepers with a general trading licence the right to sell 
spirits for "off" consumption in quantities of not less than 
half a gallon. To put it brieflj", eyeTy shopkeeper could sell for 
4:S, 6c7. half -gallon bottles of spirits. It was thought that this 



THE SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIMENTS 457 

following figures taken from the last report of the 
Grothenburg Bolag : — 



Year. 


Bar sale of spirits in Gothenburg. 


Litres per inhabitant. 


1875 


12-99 


1876 


13-18 


1877 


14-06 


1878 


13-61 


1879 


12-58 


1880 


11-11 


1881 


10-13 


1882 


9-12 


1883 


8-60 


1884 


8-55 


1885 


8-44 


1886 


8-12 


1887 


7-65 


1888 


7-46 


1889 


6-50 


1890 


6-43 


1891 


6-69 


1892 


5-90 


1893 


5-27 


1894 


4-91 


1895 


4-98 


1896 


4-94 


1897 


5-12 


1898 


5-45 


1899 


5-95 1 



quantity was large enough, to prevent spirits being bought 
retail for immediate consumption. But the workmen clubbed 
together, bought at this wholesale rate, and consumed it on 
private premises, thus defeating the law and the Company. 
In 1874 the law was altered, and the whole retail spirit traffic 
transferred to the Company. The record of its achievements, 
therefore, really dates from that year." — Workman, WJiat is the 
Gothenburg System f 

^ In connection with the statistics of consumption Mr. Whyte 
justly points out that in 1876 trade was prosperous and wages 
high, and that some reduction in consumption, in the dull j^ears 
following, would, under any circumstances, have taken place. 
For a consideration of the facts bearing upon this the reader is 



458 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

This reduction of 54 per cent., althougli remarkable, 
is perhaps not more than might have been expected. 
For not only has the inducement to push sales been 
removed by the elimination of private profit, but the 
whole conduct of the trade has been guided by men 
desirous of lessening intemperance, and able, without 
hindrance, promptly to adapt regulations to the re- 
quirements of the place and time. In the reduction of 
the number of public-houses, in the shortening of the 
hours of sale, and in the refusal to serve persons under 
eighteen years of age, it has not been necessary to 
waste years in an attempt to obtain Parliamentary 
sanction. In a later chapter,^ detailed figures of the 
consumption of spirits in Gothenburg are given. 

Consumption of Beee. 

The value of the licensing experience offered by the 
towns of Sweden is increased by the fact that there 
are two systems in force at the same time, viz. : — 
restriction under the Companies, as regards spirits ; 
and something approaching to free trade, under the 
customary stimulus of private gain, as regards beer. 
Thus, in Grothenburg, for every place where brandy 
can be bought for consumption on the premises, there 
are between four and five where beer can be bought,^ 
and for the 30 shops where brandy is sold for consump- 
tion off the premises there are about 660 where beer 

referred to the Appendix, p. 727, where a similar [question in 
connection with. Norway is discussed. 

^ See Appendix, p. 717. 

^ In 1899 the number of "on" beer licences was 174, of 
which 75 were " privileged," being conferred for the lives of 
the present holders. Goteborg^s Stadsfullmdktiges Handlingar 
(1900), No. 32, p. 47 



THE SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIMENTS 459 

can be bought.^ Every shopkeeper in Gothenburg who 
possesses a trader's licence can, if he or she think fit, 
sell wine and beer for consumption off the premises. 

There is some discrepancy between the different 
estimates of beer consumption in Sweden, but absolute 
agreement as to its enormous growth in recent years.^ 

The following table, which is compiled from the 
Report of the Massachusetts Legislative Commission 
(1893) and the Board of Trade Eeturn (No. 57, 1900) 
gives the official estimates of beer consumption since 
1875 :— 

' Ibid., p. 29. 

^ On making inquiry upon the point at the Bureau of Statistics 
in the Department of Finance, Stockholm, the attention of the 
writers was directed to the following paragraphs in the Svensk 
Kemisk Tidskrift bearing date 17th March, 1898 :— 

"Malt liquors not being taxed in any way, the material for 
statistical researches is very fragmentary. Good basis, is, how- 
ever, to be found for the years 1880 and 1890 ; the material for 
these years having been collected for the special needs of the 
Royal Commission of 1881 and 1891, appointed for the purpose 
of proposing a law of taxation on malt liquors. Otherwise one 
has no other way than that of indirectly ascertaining the 
quantitative development of the business by the tables of 
imports of hops. 

"In 1880 one kilogram of hops was estimated to be used for 
four hectolitres of malt liquors. In 1890 the amount of hops 
for a hectolitre had decidedly gone down, ivhich tvas a natural 
consequence of the IV eaker kinds of malt liquor having increased 
considerably. 

"Basing the estimate on the import of hops, the quantity of 
malt liquors for sale in 1896 can be calculated safely to have 
amounted to 2,400,000 hectolitres, out of which one-half may 
be said to have been beer and porter, and the other half small 
beer." 

The gratifying fact brought out in these extracts is the 
growing proportion which the weaker kinds of malt liquor bear 
to the total consumption. 



460 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



Year. 

1875-1879 
1880-1884 
1885-1889 
1890-1894 

1895 

1896 

1897 



Consumption of Beer in 

Sweden. 
Litres per head of the 
Population. 

17-2 
17-6 
24-1 
30-7 
35-5 
42-4 
45-0 1 



Effect of Beee Consumption upon Dbunkenness. 
The effect of an unrestricted sale of beer is strikingly 
sliown in the analysis of arrests for drunkenness made 
by the authorities in order to ascertain at which place 
the intoxicated person drank last. In the annexed 
table the five years commencing with 1875 are com- 
pared with the five years ending 1899. 

Analysis of Arrests for Drunkenness in Gothenburg. 





NtJMBEB WHO DBANK LAST AT 


YEAE8. 


Bars of 
the 
Com- 
pany. 


Per- 
cent- 
age of 
total. 


Beer 

Saloons. 


Per- 
cent- 
age of 
total. 


Home 

or 
from a 
bottle 
pur- 
chase. 


Per- 
cent- 
age of 
total. 


Place 

not 
re- 
ported. 


Per- 
cent- 
age of 
total. 


Total. 


1875-79 Annual 
Average . . 

1895-99 Annual 
Average . . 


1,038 
973 


A2fo 
18^ 


253 
1,556 


lOfo 

28fo 


332 
1,314 


13^ 


861 
1,633 


35^ 

30^ 


2,484 

5,476 



The decline in the number of arrests of those who 
drank last at the Company's bars, from 42 per cent. 

^ The figures at first sight might seem to lend colour to a 
suggestion recently made that the decline in the consumption of 
spirits in Gothenburg is due to a change in the national taste 
from spirituous to fermented drinks, and is not to be attributed 
to the operations of the Bolag. The argument, however, is 
found to have little force when closely examined. See Appendix, 
p. 718. 



THE SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIMENTS 461 

of the entire number in the first quinquennial period 
to 18 per cent, in the later period, speaks powerfully 
for the restrictive influence exercised by the Bolag. 
Almost equally suggestive is the increase in arrests of 
those who drank last at the beer saloons — an increase 
from 10 per cent, in the first period to 28 per cent, in 
the last. 

Mr. Elliot, who has been Chief of Police in Grothen^ 
burg since 1882, and in the force for thirty years, 
informed the present writers that he attributed ^'very 
much " of the drunkenness in the city to beer, either 
to beer by itself, or to beer in combination with 
spirits. When asked whether he thought there 
would be less drunkenness if there were no Bolag, he 
smiled at what he evidently regarded as the absurdity 
of the question. He expressed himself as absolutely 
convinced of the superiority of the Company System. 

Aerests for Drunkenness. 
The arrests for drunkenness in Gothenburg since 
1875 have been as under : — 



Year. 




Per 1,000 of Population 


1875-1879 . . . . 39 


1880-1884 






34 


1885-1889 
1890-1894 






34 
42 


1895 






33 


1896 






37 


1897 






47 


1898 






57 


1899 






58 



The figures are undoubtedly high, and, as in the 
case of the prohibition towns in America, greatly in 
excess of corresponding figures for the United King- 
dom. But, as has already been pointed out, the 
statistical test of drunkenness is an extremely mis- 



462 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

leading one, and affords no decisive evidence of the 
relative value of different licensing systems. It may 
be questioned, moreover, whether any great improve- 
ment in this direction is possible so long as the sale of 
beer remains practically free.^ 

It should, however, in fairness, be stated that at the 
time of the writers' visit to Gothenburg in June, 1898, 
very little drunkenness was visible — certainly far less 
than is to be seen in an English city. Visiting the 
quay sides and back streets on Saturday evening (the 
arrests on Saturday are nearly double those made on 
any other day) only one drunken person was seen. 

* It is difficult to understand the argument sometimes used 
tliat tlie increase of drunkenness in Gothenburg is due to the 
Company System. The question may be asked : "What part of 
the Company System is thus responsible ? Is it the fewness of 
the public-houses (one to every 2,798 of the population), or the 
severe limitation of the hours of sale, or the refusal to supply 
young persons under 18, or the non-giving of credit, or is it 
the reduction of 54 per cent, in the bar sales of spirits between 
1875 and 1899? If, as seems probable, more than 5,000,000 
litres of beer are sold annually in Gothenburg, and if the sale 
is rapidly growing, and is caried on with few of the wise 
restrictions that attach to the Company sale of spirits, there 
seems no occasion to seek further for an explanation, or to re- 
sort to a hypothesis so extravagant as that under consideration. 
The elimination of private profit from the sale of drink is the 
principle which underlies the entire Company System in 
Scandinavia, and it is instructive to note that the success or 
otherwise of the Company System, whether in Gothenburg or 
elsewhere in Sweden and Norway, appears to be almost exactly 
proportionate to the completeness with which this principle is 
carried out. The uncontrolled sale of beer in Gothenburg and 
the sub-letting of retail spirit licences to the 23 wine merchants 
are obvious violations of the essential principle of the Gothen- 
burg System. If the argument under consideration merely 
implies that through these violations the Company System 
fails of its full result, an unqualified assent may be given to 
the proposition. 



THE SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIMENTS 463 

The greatest amount of drunkenness observed was on 
a Tuesday evening, in a Bolag shop near the quay, 
shortly before seven, the hour of closing. The place 
was busy, and the staff of attendants at the time was 
too small to observe, with any care, the condition of 
the customers. An additional male attendant, to act 
as inspector, is certainly needed in some of the shops. 
But such an appointment is unlikely so long as the 
Bolag pays the manager a fixed sum for staff expenses, 
and leaves him to appoint his own attendants. This 
system is obviously vicious, and calculated to interfere 
with the full possibilities of the Company system. 

The increase of drunkenness in Gothenburg in 
1898-9 induced the Town Council in 1899 to appoint a 
committee to find out the real cause of the increase 
and to propose means for bringing about a reduced 
consumption of alcoholic drinks. ^ Their Eeport, which 
is dated 14th March, 1900, is a document of great 
interest and value. 

The committee directed their inquiry to two main 
points : — 

(a) The causes of the increase of drunkenness in 

Grothenburg. 
(h) The action that should be taken by the com- 
munity to lessen intemperance. 

Light and guidance was sought from various bodies ; 
among others, from teachers in public schools, from 
Temperance societies and trade organizations, from the 
masters and workmen in certain trades, as well as 
from brewers, hotel-keepers, etc. The two latter deny 

^ The appointment of the Committee is said to have been 
primarily due to the petition sent by the Bishop and clergy of 
the city and district to the Eoyal Governor of the Province. 
See page AQQ. 



464 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

that there is an increase in drunkenness, but the fact 
is not questioned by others. 

'' Good times," with their higher wages, and the in- 
creasing consumption of beer are assigned as principal 
reasons. Attention is called to the vast number of 
places for the sale of beer — 834 in all — and to the in- 
adequate control of this traffic, especially of the "o£f " 
trade. Sales are made to intoxicated persons, to 
children, and often on credit. In the case of the " off" 
trade there is no limit to the hours during which the 
sale may be carried on. The beer sold in the city is 
moreover stated to be of great alcoholic strength. 

It would seem that the framers of the Report are 
conscious that the true cure for this state of things 
would be found in bringing beer under Company con- 
trol. They point out, however, that under the exist- 
ing Swedish law relating to branvin bolags (a law 
which differs from the Norwegian) it is not possible 
to include beer within the scope of their operations. 

In the meantime the committee make various 
suggestions for controlling the beer trade of a kind 
with which we in England are familiar, and from 
which we should expect small results. Their recital 
serves as a reminder of the insuperable difficulty of 
exercising effective control over a trade carried on by 
those whose interest is to extend it. Happily there is 
reason to believe that early legislation will remove 
the difficulty which now keeps the sale of beer outside 
Company control. 

The workmen, in their replies, urge the necessity for 
better economical and social conditions, for shorter 
hours, and for better workmen's houses for both married 
and unmarried, urging that the city should itself 
build healthy dwellings. The teachers also speak of 



THE SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIMENTS 465 

the need of healthy dwelling-houses. They advise that 
instruction should be given in schools upon the effects 
of alcohol ; also that the teaching of cookery should 
receive greater attention. They further recommend 
that more support be given to Temperance societies, and 
that the teachers be liberally supplied with litera- 
ture to aid in Temperance teaching. Other replies 
dwell upon the absence of adequate opportunities for 
recreation to brighten the " grey monotonous lives " 
which are the lot of many. 

The replies as a whole, as well as the Eeport of the 
Committee, are marked by breadth of outlook. They 
recognise that in the struggle with intemperance due 
place must be given to each of three factors :— 

(a) To improved economic conditions ; (5) to effective 
control of the traffic ; (c) to direct Temperance teaching, 
and to a strengthening of moral and religious forces. 

Perhaps the most striking feature of the Report is 
its emphatic and repeated insistence upon the need, in 
Temperance effort, of giving full place to those con- 
structive agencies which meet the legitimate craving 
for recreation and social intercourse apart from the 
public-house. 

The Report speaks of the need of " cultural recrea- 
tion " for the general public, and especially for the 
working classes ; and urges that these recreative 
agencies should be of a good kind and of a sufficient 
number. It states that experience of such existing 
agencies shows decidedly that they are the means of 
lessening drunkenness, and it points out that if the 
demand for recreation is not rightly met it will seek 
satisfaction in injurious forms and in drunkenness. 
To this end the Committee specifically recommend — 
(1) Free music in parks and other public spaces ; (2) 

30 



466 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

concerts indoors, witli merely a nominal fee for ad- 
mission ; (3) people's theatres, circuses, and the like, 
the theatre also to be used for lantern exhibitions, 
lectures, and concerts ; (4) local branches of the 
Grothenburg Public Library ; (5) additional Bolag 
reading rooms, with larger supplies of books ; (6) 
the opening of the Grothenburg Museum, free of 
charge, on certain evenings of the week ; (7) increased 
facilities for athletics, and specially for making use of 
a certain neighbouring park. 

The Committee believe that the financial sacrifices 
involved in carrying out these proposals will bear good 
fruit in the future. They suggest that a portion of 
the Bolag profits should be appropriated for these ends. 

The general esteem in which the system is held by 
disinterested citizens is shown by the fact that in 
November, 1898, the Bishop and the Dean of Gothen- 
burg, together with thirty clergymen in active 
service in and around the town '' concerned with the 
evil consequences caused by the beer houses," petitioned 
the Royal Governor of the province that various 
restrictions might be applied to the sale of beer such 
as have been applied, by the Bolag, to the sale of spirits. 
The special importance of the petition lay in its con- 
cluding words, which were as follows : — " Finally we 
should recommend as a suitable measure that the 
present number of beer licences should be successively 
reduced, whenever the present holders, owing to death 
or other causes, cease to use them ; so that eventually all 
these licences, ivith the exception of those co7inected icitJi 
the serving of food ^ should come under the control of the 
Gothenburg Public-House Licensing Company^ — con- 
ducted according to the Gothenburg system.^^ ^ 

1 The petition is given in extenso at p. 719. 



THE SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIMENTS 467 

The petition is manifestly of great evidential value 
as showing the estimation in which the Gothenburg 
Bolag stands with thoughtful and intelligent men 
who are concerned for the moral progress of the 
community. 

STOCKHOLM. 

Population— (1877-8) 153,528, (1898-9) 291,580. 
Detailed statistics of the working of the Company 
System in Stockholm will be found in the Appendix, 
and only a few facts need be mentioned here. 

The Company commenced operations on October, 
1st, 1877, when 261 " On " licences were handed over 
to it by the town. 

The Company made use of them as follows : — 
Appropriated for public-houses 87 
Transferred by Company to 

hotels, restaurants and coffee 

hoLTses 113 

Provisional and other special 

licences 37 

237 being 1 to every 
648 of population, 
whilst the number not used was 24 

261 

In 1898-9 the number of '^ On " licences held by the 
Company was 150, which were made use of as 
follows : — 

Appropriated for public-houses 58 
Transferred by Company as 
above 82 

140 being 1 to every 
2,083 of population, 
whilst the number not used was 10 

i50 



468 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

Thirty Retail or ^'Off" licences were handed over 
to the Company in 1877. In 1898-99 the number of 
the Retail licences was 80, of which 27 were used by 
the Company, 51 were transferred, and 2 were not 
used. In 1877 there was one "Off" licence to every 
5114 of the population ; in 1898-99 there was one 
to every 3738. 

Minors up to the age of 15 are forbidden by law 
to enter saloons ; but the Brandy Company has here, 
as elsewhere, voluntarily raised the age to 18. The 
effect of the Company System in restricting sales 
in Stockholm is shown by the fact that while in 
1877-78 the Bolag bar sale of spirits was 13*82 litres 
per head of the population, it had fallen in 1898-9 
to 7-56 litres. 



Weak Points in the Swedish System. 

There is much to be learnt from an examination 
of the weak points in the Company System in Sweden, 
which have been brought to light during the past 20 
or 25 years. Such an examination leads to the con- 
clusion that the defects are almost wholly traceable 
to deficiencies in the statutory law under which the 
companies worked. 

Firstly, the legislature, having failed to realize 
what the present writers believe to be the right appro- 
priation of the surplus profits, gave its sanction to the 
use of the profits in aid of local rates, an appropriation 
full of danger. 

Secondly, no adequate provision was made to guard 
against ordinary abuses of administration. 

To deal with the last point first. It is clear that 



THE SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIMENTS 469 

in some small places the essential principles of the 
system were very imperfectly realized, and abuses were 
allowed to creep in which could have been effectually 
prevented had the provisions of the law been more 
skilfully drawn. These abuses formed the subject of 
official inquiry in 1894-5, and are unsparingly set 
forth in the Eeport issued by the Swedish Bureau of 
Control (Finance Department, Stockholm) — a report 
which prepared the way for the excellent law of May 
24th, 1895. Under this law, little loophole would 
seem to be left for a recurrence of irregularities. The 
accounts of the companies have now to be kept in 
the manner and after the formula provided by the 
Bureau of Control and Assay of the Eoyal Depart- 
ment of Finance. Another clause provides for the 
yearly examination of the accounts of the companies 
by ■Q.Ye auditors, one of whom is to be appointed by 
the Governor, representing the Crown. The auditors' 
report has, moreover, to be published before the end 
of February in each year in some of the local news- 
papers. 

It may be asked what were these ^^ abuses " and 
''irregularities " ? The answer is exceedingly sugges- 
tive. They consisted in carrying on the local drink 
trade more or less for profit, instead of with a view 
to restriction and control. That is to say, the 
'' abuse " of the Company System in Sweden was 
identical with the ordinary trade methods in non- 
company countries. 

In the large towns the administration of the Bolags 
is both able and honest. The directors have honour- 
ably administered their responsible trust. In Gothen- 
burg, as has been shown, they have steadily kept 
down the number of licensed houses ; they have 



470 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

shortened the hours of sale ; they have raised the 
age at which young persons may be served, and have 
opened eating-houses and reading-rooms. But the 
full success of the enterprise has been impaired by the 
appropriation of the profits of the Company towards 
the reduction of rates, an appropriation unfortunately 
made possible under the statutory law. Hitherto, 
this use of the profits may have resulted in nothing 
worse than a failure to bring into play the great 
forces in favour of Temperance which are possible 
under an enlightened disposition of the funds. But 
a real danger must lurk in any system which gives 
the ratepayer a direct interest in the profitable 
carrying on of the trade. In 1897 the share of the 
profits of the Gothenburg Company received by the 
municipality was not less than £36,899,^ an amount 
equal to 31 per cent, of the total municipal revenue 
raised by rates.^ 

It has often been matter for surprise that men so 
enlightened as the original founders of the Company 
should have adopted a method fraught with so much 
peril. "What the present writers believe to be the true 
explanation has not, so far as they know, been 
hitherto placed before English readers. But it is an 
interesting fact that the directors had originally 
planned to devote the profits of the Bolag to ''some 

* The items of the profit are made up thus : — 
Fixed payment to the City Treasury for Bar 

Sale and Retail Licences £15,230 

3^ths of the Bolag profits (£30,956) ....'. 21,669 

£36,899 
^ The amount raised by rates in Gothenburg (1898) was 
£118,013 



THE SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIMENTS 471 

purpose conducive to the welfare of the working 
classes." Why was this intention abandoned? Ap- 
parently because the promoters were threatened with 
the formation of a rival company prepared to offer 
better terms to the town. The hands of the original 
directors were thus forced, and in order to keep the 
experiment under their control they were compelled 
to offer terms equal to those made by their com- 
petitors. The incident is noteworthy as a further 
illustration of the necessity of dealing with this 
crucial question of the distribution of the profits by 
clear statutory law. 

For supplementary evidence upon the working of 
the Company System in Sweden, see Appendix, p. 716. 



NOEWAY. 

The licensing system in Norway has been conducted 
under conditions of population and economic develop- 
ment similar to those which have obtained in Sweden. 
The number of persons to the square mile in 1896 
was only 17, and of the total population of 2,081,800, 
26 per cent, belonged to the urban and 74 to the rural 
population.^ Both Norway and Sweden are lands 

^ Proportion of Urban and Eural Population in 
Norway. 

Population. Percentage Total Population 

of Urban Rural 

1825 1,051,318 . . 11% . . 89% 

1855 1,490,047 . . 14% . . 86% 

1875 1,813,424 . . 18% . . 82% 

1891 2,000,917 . . 24% . . 76% 

1896 2,081,800 . . 26% . . 74% 

In 



472 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

of peasant proprietors. In 1875 the owners of real 
estate in tlie rural districts of Norway numbered 
173,183.^ The total number of small freehold pro- 
prietors in Sweden in 1880 was 224,569.^ In one 
respect there is a wide difference between the two 
countries. The traditions and regime of Sweden are 
aristocratic ; the atmosphere of Norway is essentially 
democratic. But in the Temperance history of the 
two countries there is a remarkable similarity — each 
experienced the tremendoiis peril of free distillation, 
while each has adopted local option in the rural 
districts and the controlling system in the towns. 



Fkee Distillation. 

In 1816, the Norwegian Storthing granted every 
one the right to distil brandy from grain or potatoes 
raised on his own land. The consequences were 
startling. During the ensuing 20 years the consump- 
tion more than doubled, reaching 16 litres of branvin 
(50 per cent, alcohol) per inhabitant. In 1833, when 
distillation was unrestricted, the number of stills in 
Norway was 9,727 ; viz., 9,576 in the country districts 
and 151 in the towns. This free distillation reduced 
the country to a fearful condition. Referring to this 

In 1896, Christiania and Bergen accounted for nearly one-half 
(46%) of the town population. 

Density of Population in Norway. 

1825 8 persons to square mile 

1855 12 „ „ „ 

1875 15 „ „ „ 

1896 17 „ „ „ 

^ Encydopcedia Britannica : " Norway." 
^ Parliamentary Eeturn C — 6250. 



THE SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIMENTS 473 

period, Mr. Lars 0. Jensen, the leader of tlie Nor- 
wegian Grood Templars, in a paper read before the 
International Temperance Congress at the Hague in 
1893, stated that in some parishes, — as, for instance, 
in Tonset — " even the women could no longer go to 
church on Sunday without having their bottle of 
brandy with them, while it was not unusual to find 
a great part of the congregation lying dead drunk 
outside the church walls, when the service was over. 
Brandy was given to babies, while it was considered 
quite a necessity for nursing mothers. So brandy 
was on the fair way to ruin the Norwegian people." 
The country became alarmed. By 1840 the number 
of stills had been reduced to 1,387, and, under the 
operation of the law of 1848, the number was, in 
1850, brought down to 40. At the present time 
there are 21 distilleries in Norway. 



Reduction in Numbee op Licences in E,ueal 

DiSTEICTS AND LoCAL CONTEOL OF TeAPFIC. 

Other legislation of an important character was 
adopted, especially the Act of 1845, two clauses of 
which produced a great effect. 

By Section 5 it was enacted that '' In the country 
districts, bar trade in brandy must be carried on only 
at such inns as are necessary for travellers, and which 
on this account shall be given a licence to conduct this 
bar trade, yet it shall be forbidden to serve brandy to 
any persons living or staying nearer than 3| miles 
(English) to the inn." ^ 

^ Dr. E, R, L. Gould, The Gothenburg Syste^n of Liquor Traffic. 



474 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

But even this restricted number of licences was 
subject to a local veto. For, under Section 7, it was 
provided that '' In the country districts permission 
to carry on a bar trade in brandy shall not be granted 
to innkeepers, nor permission to retail it granted to 
country merchants, unless the local governing body 
have recommended the establishment of such retail or 
bar trade places." 



The Company System in Norway. 

The introduction of the Company System in Norway, 
authorized by the Act of May 3rd, 1871, was due to 
the example afforded by Gothenburg in 1865. The 
Norwegian system was, however, no mere copy of that 
existing in Sweden. Norway had the immense ad- 
vantage of availing itself of the. experience of Sweden, 
and of thus avoiding some of the mistakes made by 
the pioneers in an un traversed field. " Norway began 
where Sweden left off." It has been pointed out that 
the defects in the Company System in Sweden — especi- 
ally the appropriation of the profits to the reduction 
of rates — were due to the absence of proper statutory 
law. About twenty words in the Act of May 3rd, 
1871, sufficed to make any such appropriation of profits 
in Norway impossible. A lax administration of the 
Bolags, such as obtained in some of the small towns 
of Sweden prior to the Act of 1895, was also guarded 
against; for, ''while the law of 1871 does not ex- 
pressly imply it, the final decision in all matters 
relating to the Companies rests with the Department 
of the Interior. Its powers are nearly absolute." 

The Norwegian law of 1871, under which the Com- 



THE SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIMENTS 475 

parties were established, expressly provided that the 
net profits of the Samlags should be devoted to 
objects of public utility, and this was interpreted as 
referring to objects which the municipality is not, by 
law, already obliged to support. 

Christiansand, a town of 12,000 inhabitants, was 
the first to adopt the Company System, and others 
followed. In 1875, 15 societies had been established, 
in 1880, 41, and in 1891, 51, out of a total of 59 towns 
with a licensing authority. ^ 

It may be well to point out here that the licensing 
authority in every town may or may not grant licences 
at its discretion, as will be seen from the fact, stated 
below, that in five small towns the retailing of in- 
toxicating liquors was entirely prohibited. The same 
may be said of rural districts; "in them local option 
exists, and is practised in its most complete forms ; 
in some places a few licences are- granted, in others 
none at all, depending on the discretion of the com- 
munal body of representatives, which is the licensing 
authority." 

The following table gives the per capita consump- 
tion of Branvin and Beer in Norway : — 



^ It must be kept in mind that the right to establish a Samlag 
or Controlling Society was conferred upon towns only, and was 
not extended to the rural districts. In five of the eight other 
towns (with an aggregate population of 9,900) licences for re- 
tailing spirits had up to the end of 1895 been refused to all 
applicants. In three other small towns, with an aggregate 
population of 1,280, the retailing of spirits was, up to the same 
date, conducted by private licensees. In every other town in 
Norway with a licensing authority a Controlling Society had 
been formed by 1889. 



476 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



Consumption of Branvin and Beer in Norway. 



1833 
1813 



1849-50 
1851-55 
1856-60 
1861-65 
1866-70 
1871 
1872 
1873 
1874 
1875 
1876 
1877 
1878 
1879 
1880 
1881 
1882 
1883 
1884 
1885 
1886 
1887 
1888 
1889 
1890 
1891 
1892 
1893 
1894 
1895 
1896 

1897 
1898 
1899 



Branvin 

of 50 per 
cent. 

alcohol. 
Litres 

per head 
of the 

Popula- 
tion. 



Estimated. 

16-0 



10-0 



Actua 

5-4 
6-3 
5-5 
4-4 
4-8 
5-3 
4-5 
5-3 

6-e 

6-5 
6-7 
60 
4-5 
3-3 
3-9 
3 
3-8 
3-3 
3-5 
3-5 
30 
2-8 
31 
3-2 
31 
3-7 
3-2 
3-5 
3-8 
3-5 



2-2 
2-6 



Propor- 
tion of 
national 
sales of 
Branvin 
made by 
Sam- 
lags.i 



14-8 
22-2 
24-5 
21-0 
301 
25-5 
34-1 
34-1 
321 
41-4 
43-2 
40-1 
41-8 
49-1 
42-9 
51-3 
45-6 
39-7 
41-2 
56-4 

60-5 
56-1 



In 1833 the number of stills was 9,727 ; 
reduced in 1840 to 1,387, and in 1850 to 40, 

By the law of 1845 bar trade in Branvin 
in the rural districts was confined to inns 
necessary for travellers ; but, without per- 
mission of the local governing body, even 
this sale was not permitted. 



The law of July 24th, 1894, came into 
force January 1st, 1896. 
In 1896-7 Norway flooded with laddevin.2 



Beer. 

Litres 
per head 
of the 
Popula- 
tion. 



1 The Norwegian word " Samlag " corresponds to tlie Swedisli word 
"Bolag." 

2 Common wlue mixed with Branvin. For the causes which led to its 
manufacture and introduction into Norway see pp. 495-498. 



THE SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIMENTS 477 

An examination of the foregoing table (for tlie basis 
of whicli see Appendix, p. 725) shows that in a period of 
about twenty years, from 1833 to 1851-55, the per 
capita consumption of spirits in Norway was reduced 
from 16 to 6'3 litres. After this followed a period of 
more than twenty years in which the consumption 
was almost stationary, and it was not till the Samlags 
had been introduced, and a material portion of the 
trade had been brought within their control, that any 
further reduction was effected. In connection with 
these figures it will hardly be necessary to point out 
that it is comparatively easy to reduce a drink bill 
when it is at an altogether abnormal height. To 
strike off a single litre from a per capita consumption 
of three litres would be harder than it was to strike 
off eight or ten litres sixty years ago. 

The controlling system as it was first introduced 
into Norway, while agreeing in its main outlines with 
that of Sweden, had important points of difference. 
These differences are clearly seen in the regulations of 
the Bergen Samlag, which is often named as that in 
which the Norwegian controlling system finds its 
fullest expression. 

THE COMPANY SYSTEM IN BEEGEN. 

Population— (1877) 40,760, (1897) 65,500, (1899) 70,000. 

Beegen, the chief port and second city of Norway, 
is familiar to English and American travellers as the 
usual place of arrival and departure in the Norwegian 
tour. 

(a) Eeduction in the number of Licences. 
In this town the Controlling Society 'commenced 
operations on January 1st, 1877. The municipality 



478 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

had suppressed some of the licences that were in 
actual operation in 1876, and transferred the rest, 
viz. 16, to the Samlag. In the case of those sup- 
pressed no compensation was given, the practice in 
this respect, so far as ordinary licences are concerned, 
being uniform throughout Scandinavia.^ Of the 16 
licences transferred to the Company, 12 were used as 
Bar and 4 as Retail (" Off") licences. In 1880 the Bar 
licences were reduced to 11, in 1889 to 10, in 1897 to 
9, and from April of 1898 to 8. In 1877 there was 
one Bar licence to every 3,396 of the population ; in 
1898, one to every 8,187. The ''Off" licences have 
remained throughout at 4, being now at the rate of 
one to every 16,375 of the population. Small as is the 
number of these licences, they serve the purpose of a 
safety-valve. There is no club difficulty in Bergen, 
and no driving of the traffic below the surface. 

(b) Hours of Sale. 

The times and hours of sale are more severely re- 
stricted in Norway than in Sweden. In Bergen, for 
example, no sale of drams is allowed on Sunday or 
on festivals. The spirit bars close at 1 p.m. on Satur- 
day, and do not open till 8 a.m. on Monday. On 
week-days the general hours of sale are from 8 a.m. 
till 12 at noon, when they are closed till 1.30 p.m. ; 
they are opened again from 1.30 to 7 p.m. On days 
before festivals {i.e. Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve, 
Easter Eve, and Whitsun Eve) both bar and retail 
shops are closed all day. They are also closed on Con- 
stitution Day (May 17th) and on election days, and 

^ In the case of "privileged " licences — i.e. those held upon a 
term of one or more lives — compensation upon the basis of recent 
profits was given. 



THE SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIMENTS 479 

whenever the chief of police requires. The closing 
from 12 to 1.30 is especially enacted to protect work- 
ing-men from the temptation of dram-drinking during 
the dinner hour, a striking reversal of the ordinary 
EngHsh idea. 

(c) Character of the DrinJc Shops. 

The following description of the Bergen spirit shops 
given by a Committee of the United Kingdom 
Alliance a few years ago, is so clear and marks so well 
their present characteristics that it may be reproduced 
here : — 

'^ The Bergen bars offer no attractions whatever, 
except drink. They have no resemblance to bright 
gin-palaces, nor to bright coffee taverns, nor yet to 
' snug ' public-houses. They are not places of resort 
for social intercourse. There is nothing — save the 
drink — of the * working - man's club ' about them. 
Food is not provided in them. They are neither 
comfortable nor spacious. Accommodation or ar- 
rangement for either indoor or outdoor games has 
not been so much as thought of in connection with 
them. Newspapers are not supplied. Indeed, seats 
are not provided. There are no private apartments 
to be obtained in them for business or other purposes. 
People don't meet in them to do business, to discuss 
politics, to play cards, or to discuss and bet on races. 
Indeed, customers are not permitted to loiter on the 
premises. They must consume their dram at once 
and leave immediately." 

(d) Hotels and Sub-Licensing. 

A distinctive merit of the Norwegian system is that 
sub-licensing (such as we have seen exists in Sweden) 



48o THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

is generally kept within narrow limits. In cases 
where the public convenience demands it certain 
privileges are granted to hotel- proprietors, etc., for the 
sale of spirits, but even in such cases an arrangement 
is generally made that the proprietor of the hotel or 
restaurant shall become the salaried agent of the 
Company, which undertakes all risk, and receives the 
whole of the profits on the spirits sold. 

The Bergen Society, however, has persistently 
refused to grant sub-licences to the proprietors of 
hotels, restaurants, and clubs. Both travellers and 
club-members must, therefore, either supply them- 
selves with private bottles or visit the spirit bars of 
the Company in order to procure a supply. 

(e) Special Police Inspection. 

In order to guard against violations of its bye-laws 
for the control of the traffic, the Bergen Samlag pays 
the municipality 1,200 kroner a year for the exclu- 
sive services of a police officer to watch the bars and 
retail shops. 

(f) Waiting-Rooms for Workmen. 

Another good feature of the Bergen Society's 
administration is the provision of four waiting-rooms 
for workmen. The rooms, which are in separate 
buildings, and in no way connected with the Com- 
pany's shops, are warmed and supplied with news- 
papers ; no charge is made for their use, and smoking 
is allowed. The cost of maintenance of these rooms 
was, in 1897, 5,500 kroner (£305). 

(g) Other Regulations. 
In Norway, as in Sweden, no credit is given by any 



THE SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIMENTS 481 

of tlie Companies. " You can no more buy drink on 
credit than you can buy postage stamps or railway 
tickets on credit." 

In Bergen there are no female attendants in either 
the Bar or Eetail ("Off") shops belonging to the 
Samlag. It was probably this example that induced 
the Bergen municipality, ten years ago, to pass a 
regulation precluding women from being employed as 
bar-tenders in places where beer and wine was sold — 
these being outside the control of the Samlag — the 
only exception being in the case of the landlord's wife. 
The incident indicates the influence which Temperance 
sentiment exerts in Bergen, and is one of a multitude 
of illustrations to show that the Samlags, so far from 
lowering the tone of thought on matters connected 
with the drink trafHc, act as a distinctly educational 
force. 



Eeduced Sale of Spieits. 

In estimating the consumption of spirits in Bergen 
it is important to remember that the sales of the 
Company, which form the only available basis of 
calculation, represent other than purely local con- 
sumption. The fact that Bergen is the principal port 
of Norway and the chief centre of trade on the 
western coast necessarily furnishes the city with a 
large floating population whose drinking habits con- 
siderably affect the statistics of sale. In Bergen, as in 
Gothenburg, the truest index to the effect of the con- 
trolling system upon the local consumption is to be 
found in the record of the Bar sales. The following 
table shows the average consumption of spirits at bars, 

31 



482 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

per mliabitant, from the formation of tlie Bergen 
Company : ^ — 

Bar Sale of Spirits in Bergen. 
Yeae. Litres per inhabitant. 

1877 2-45 

1878 2-11 

1879 1-68 

1880 1'53 

1881 1-61 

1882 1-64 

1883 1-63 

1884 1-67 

1885 1-68 

1886 1-67 

1887 1-65 

1888 1-57 

1889 1-56 

1890 1-56 

1891 1-65 

1892 1-69 

1893 1-60 

1894 1-46 

1895 1-35 

1896 1-02 

1897 -99 

1898 1-01 

1899 -96 



From these figures it will be seen that the reduction 
in bar sales between 1877 and 1895 was not less than 
44-9 per cent.^ But the actual reduction effected by 
the Samlag was probably much greater. It is unfortu- 

^ Detailed figures of the Consumption of Spirits in Bergen are 
given in the Appendix, p. 733. 

^ If tlie comparison had been made with 1899, the reduction 
would have been one of 61 per cent., but, as will be explained 
later, the flooding of the country with "laddevin" since 1896 
renders many of the statistics subsequent to 1895 of imcertain 
value. 



THE SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIMENTS 483 

nate that in Bergen, as elsewhere, exact statistics of 
consumption are not available for the years immedi- 
ately preceding the establishment of the Samlag, so 
that the real extent of the reduction effected by the 
controlling system cannot be fully shown. 

If, however, we take as the basis of comparison the 
advance-estimate of probable consumption in 1877, an 
estimate made by the Excise Authorities and based 
upon the figures for 1876, there must have been a 
total reduction of consumption of 43 per cent, as the 
result of the Society's operations in the first year of its 
existence. 



Aerests foe Deunkenness. 

The apprehensions for drunkenness in Bergen from 
1877 to 1899 were as under. The full particulars are 
given elsewhere.^ 





Per 1,000 of the Population. 


1877-1881 


20-6 


1882-1886 


15-7 


1887-1891 


16-4 


1892 


12-1 


1893 


14-1 


1894 


15-9 


1895 


22-1 


1896 


29-1 


1897 


27-3 


1898 


27-8 


1899 


25-9 



The explanation of the extraordinary increase in 
the arrests since 1895 is given later in this chapter.^ 



^ See Appendix, p. 733. 



See pp. 495-498 



484 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



Appkopeiation of Pkofits. 

The profits of tlie Bergen Samlag available for 
distribution for the 21 years 1877 to 1897, have been 
2,652,723 kroner (£147,373), or a yearly average of 
126,320 kroner (£7,018). They have been appropri- 
ated as under : — 



Hospitals, Refuges, Homes . . 

Museums, Libraries and Exhibitions 

Tree-planting, Parks, Public Baths 
and Recreation G-rounds . . 

Various Educational Institutes . 

Bergen National and New Theatres 

Workmen's Waiting-Eooms . . 

Various Christian Missions . . 

Temperance Societies and Inebriate 
Homes 

Sundry Charities 

Summer Excursions tor Children 
and poor Seamstresses . . . 

Sundry objects, including Free Con- 
certs in Park, Bo3's' Training 
Ship & Birds' Protection Society 



Kroner, 



827,640 
620,391 



216,148 

126,000 

101,500 

85,200 

75,950 

61,400 

28,000 



101,316 



2,652,723 



Percentage 

o£ total 

appropriation. 



31 
24 

15 

8 
5 
4 
3 

3 

2 

1 



100 



AVith the wide extension of municipal action now 
obtaining in this country, some of the above items 
would be paid for out of the rates, and it may be urged 
that in Norway a corresponding enlargement of the 
sphere of municipal activity would include such 
objects as tree-planting, public baths and recreation 
grounds. Looking to the future, this may be true, 
although it is doubtful whether, up to the present, 
Norwegian municipalities would have expended the 
rates upon objects of this kind. An equally cogent 



THE SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIMENTS 485 

criticism may be offered upon tlie appropriation of 
£45,980 for hospitals, refuges and homes. Those who, 
in this country, have served upon the committees of 
such institutions, and have realized how much could 
be accomplished with ampler funds — often so diiHcult 
to obtain — will question the wisdom of making the 
maintenance of the income of these institutions 
dependent upon an undiminished drink trafEc. It 
may be doubted also whether, in the long run, the 
efficiency of Temperance organizations will be 
advanced by participation in these profits. 

Considerations of this kind appear to have in- 
fluenced the Temperance reformers who drafted the 
Bill of July 24th, 1894, under which 65 per cent, of 
the profits will go to the State. Whether the pro- 
visions for the appropriation of the remainder are 
equally wise may be doubted. 

If the Norwegian appropriation of profits is a great 
improvement upon the Swedish method, a still greater 
advance will be made by any country that realizes 
the imperative need in the struggle with intemper- 
ance of varied counteracting agencies, and regards 
the profits of the trade not as a dangerous thing to be 
got rid of as best may, but as an instrument, if 
rightly used, of enormous and beneficent power. 

Eeality of the Conteol. 

The chief interest to the English observer of the 
Bergen experiment lies in the evidence which it 
affords of the reality of the control exercised by the 
Companies. The Bergen Samlag may be condemned 
by some as being too high-handed in the restrictions 
which it imposes upon the sale of spirits ; no one can 



486 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

complain of any want of tlioroughness in its policy. 
It is almost superfluous to point out how absolutely 
impossible it would be to exercise any similar control 
under private licence. 

In an interesting Report by a Committee of the 
United Kingdom Alliance upon the Scandinavian 
Licensing systems, the writers, after speaking of the 
controlling system in Bergen '^ as the most successful 
system of local control in existence," add : " But if 
the Bergen system can do but little to prevent men 
who are already victims of the ^ drink crave ' from 
getting drunk, there is great probability that it is 
doing a good deal to prevent the drink crave from 
being formed. It seems probable that at present the 
Bergen bars are not nurseries of drunkenness, as are 
the highly respectable, comfortable and attractive 
public-houses of this country, to which young men and 
women who have no special liking for intoxicants do 
not at first go ' to drink for the sake of drinking,' but 
because of one or more of a vast variety of induce- 
ments, not one of which is offered by the managers of 
the Bergen bars." 

The accuracy of these statements was impressed 
upon the present writers as a result of personal in- 
vestigations in Bergen in June and July, 1898. Inter- 
views with the Chief of the Police and others elicited 
strong testimonies to the value of the controlling 
influence exercised by the Company. 

The extent to which the Bergen Controlling Society 
has won the respect and support of the most influential 
citizens was strikingly shown in a series of letters 
addressed a few years back to Mr. T. M. Wilson (the 
well-known author of Local Option in Norway) in 



THE SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIMENTS 487 

response to inquiries made by him. The questions 
put by Mr. Wilson, together with a number of the 
replies, are given later. ^ 

CHRISTIANIA 

Population— (1885) 128,300, (1890) 143,347, (1897) 192,141, 
(1898) 203,000. 

The essential principle of the Grothenburg system — 
the elimination of private profit from the sale of drink 
— has been less fully carried out in Christiania than in 
the other large towns of Norway and Sweden. It is 
true that there is only one " On " licence to every 
5,970 of the population, but there are at the present 
time 29 retail shops where common branvin, as well as 
superior spirits, is sold.^ To 25 of these the Samlag 
issues sub-licences, while 4 are privileged retailers. 
Each of these 29 shops pays the Samlag 10,000 kroner 
(£555) annually. That such a payment should be 
made shows the magnitude of the trade which these 
shops carry on. It will not excite surprise that in a city 
in which the stimulus of private gain has such ample 
scope ^ there is much intemperance. Thus in 1897 the 
arrests for drunkenness were 17,992,* or 94 per 1,000 of 
the population. No doubt laddevin is responsible for 
the great increase in the last two or three years, but 
before its introduction the arrests were 78 per 1,000, a 

* See Appendix, p. 734. 

^ The retail shops holding sub-licences under the Bolag in 
Gothenhuri? may only sell " superior spirits " — they are pre- 
cluded from selling branvin. But see footnote, p. 452. 

^ In his Popular Control of the Liquor Traffic, Dr. Gould 
states that the Christiania Company "dispenses barely 40 per 
cent, of the spirits sold in bottles and over the bar." 

* The number of separate people arrested for di'unkenness in 
1896 was 8,428. 



488 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

number as great as in 1884, before the Company liad 
been formed.^ It is also to be noted that Christiania is 
the centre of the brewing industry, and that in 1898 
it had 239 " On " beer licences, while the number of 
^' Off " beer licences (in 1896) was 1,877. 

THE NORWEGIAN LAW OF JULY 24th, 1894 . 

{The Laio came into force January Ist^ 1896.) 

Attention in this country has been directed to the 
Norwegian law of 1894 as constituting an important 
landmark in the history of temperance legislation in 
Norway. The provisions of the Act are so remarkable, 
and the results flowing from it have been so unex- 
pected, that a few pages must be given to an examina- 
tion of the measure and of its working. 

The law gave expression to the advanced temper- 
ance opinion of the country ; it was drafted by the 
Temperance leaders ^ and carried by Temperance 
support. 

To understand its leading provisions it is needful to 
look at the position of the town and rural populations 
respectively prior to 1894. In the rural districts, con- 
taining three-fourths of the population, local option 
prevailed, and under its operation the Bar (" On ") and 
Retail (''Off") trade had been practically suppressed, 
and there remained only 29 privileged licences, each 
dependent upon the continuance of one or two lives.^ 

^ The Christiania Samlag commenced operations July 1, 1885. 

^ The law of 1894 was drawn by Mr. Aarrestad, leader of the 
Temperance party in the Storthing, together with Mr. Berner, a 
prominent and influential member of the Temperance partj'-, 
and Mr. Jensen, Chief Clerk in the Department of the Interior. 
— Foreign Office Report. Miscellaneous Series, No. 349, 1895. 

^ A Eeport presented to the Norwegian Storthing in 1898 



THE SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIMENTS 489 

But any distiller or wholesale dealer was at liberty 
to take orders for quantities of not less than 40 litres 
(8| gallons) of spirits and send it, in one vessel, to any 
one buyer living within a prohibition district. A keg 
of spirits containing 40 litres could be purchased for 
£4 10s. or less, and it was a common thing for per- 
sons to club together and order this quantity for their 
joint use. 

An ofHcial inquiry for the six years 1884-1889 
showed that 59 per cent, of the total national con- 
sumption of spirits was represented by sales of 40 litres 
and upwards, and only 41 per cent, by sales in small 
quantities.^ 

One object, then, of the Act of 1894 was to do away 
with this wholesale trade, and, for this purpose, the 
minimum of a wholesale sale was raised from 40 litres 
to 250 litres ; i.e. from 8| to 55 gallons — a purchase 
which would cost about 500 kroner (£28). And, 
further, every wholesale dealer was required to pay 
yearly a licence tax of 1,000 kroner (more than £55). 

gives the number of privileged brandy sellers in the rural dis- 
tricts of Norway as twenty-nine, of whom nineteen sell " On " 
and "Off," while nine sell only "Off" and one sells only "On." 

* The present writers were informed, in the statistical and 
other G-overnment departments, that no figures exist to show 
the proportion of the national consumption of spirits which 
belongs to the rural districts. In a communication since re- 
ceived, Mr. Berner states that the wholesale sales of 40 litres 
and upwards in 1884-89 were not made exclusively, perhaps not 
mainly, to the rural districts, but that large sales were made to 
sailors and fishermen. Mr. Berner adds that the consumption 
of brandy in most of the rural districts is really small, except 
at festivities and especially at' Christmas time, when the 
farmers, in accordance with old Norwegian custom, use a large 
quantity. 



490 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

But the aims of the Temperance party went further 
than this. They knew that by the action of a popular 
vote licensed houses for the sale of spirits had, in the 
rural districts, all but ceased to exist ; and it was be- 
lieved that by the same means they might be closed 
in the towns. The Temperance leaders were not hostile 
to the Samlags, but the Company System was regarded 
by them as a stepping-stone to something beyond. If 
the sale of spirits was to continue at all, it was better 
that it should be under the Samlags than free, and 
hence it was desired to narrow the alternatives to a 
choice between the Samlags and prohibition. To give 
effect to these views, the Act provides that in towns 
all trade in spirits, other than wholesale, whether on 
or off the premises, must be put under the control of 
the Samlags. But the most notable feature of the new 
law was the proviso that the establishment of a new 
Samlag, or even the continuance of an old one, should 
be dependent upon a general vote of all residents in the 
district over twenty-five years of age, men and women 
alike, a bare majority of those entitled to vote being 
sufficient for the suppression of a Samlag and the 
consequent establishment of prohibition. The decision 
come to is binding for five years. 

This Act came into force on January 1st, 1896, but 
the licences in the 51 towns having Samlags ter- 
minated in different years. By the end of March, 
1899, the whole of these towns had voted upon the 
question of the continuance of their Samlags ; 13 of 
these towns voted in 1895 in anticipation of their 
action in 1896. 

The voting in each of the five years has been as 
follows : — 



THE SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIMENTS 491 





Number 








Number of 


Number of 




of Towns 


Number 


Number 


Number 


Towns in 


Towns in 


Year. 


in which 


of 


of votes 


of votes 


which 


which 


a vote 


possible 


for 


against 


Samlag 


Samlag 




was 


votes. 


Samlag.i 


Samlag.2 


has been 


has been 




taken. 








retained. 


abolished.2 


1895 . 


13 


23,791 


9,682 


14,109 


2 


11 


1896 . 


9 


45,197 


21,437 


23,760 


4 


5 


1897 . 


11 


41,984 


24,266 


17,718 


8 


3 


1898 . 


12 


43,983 


25,855 


18,128 


8 


4 


1899 . 


6 


108,130 


86,677 


21,453 


3 


3 




51 


263,085 


167,917 


95,168 


25 


26 



In 1897 two new Samlags were established. 

There are two points to note in these returns. Some 
English Temperance reformers have been fearful that 
the Company System would necessarily bar the way to 
more advanced legislation. It has now been seen that 
the fear is groundless. Not only has the Norwegian 
Parliament passed an Act with provisions of extra- 
ordinary stringency, but the ratepayers in 26 towns 
have, wisely or unwisely, availed themselves of the 
power of local veto conferred upon them and have 
established prohibition. 

Secondly, there is the striking change in the char- 
acter of the voting. In 1895, only 2 towns voted for 
the Samlags, whilst 11 voted against them. In 1896 
the numbers were nearly equal, but in 1897, 8 towns 
out of 11 voted for the Samlags, and in 1898, 8 towns 
out of 12 so voted. 



^ As a majority of those entitled to vote was necessary for tLe 
suppression of a Samlag, those who abstained from voting were 
counted as having voted for its continuance. 

2 The names of the towns which have voted upon the reten- 
tion or suppression of the Samlag will be found in the Appendix, 
p. 737. 



492 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

It may be too soon yet to express any decided opinion 
upon the results of this suppression of the Samlags 
by the 26 towns. When travelling in Norway in 
June of 1898, the present writers elicited the opinion 
of many persons in responsible positions both in 
Christiania and Bergen. The great majority of those 
consulted believed that the abolition of the Samlags 
had been a mistake, and would lead to disappointment. 
This anticipation has received considerable confirma- 
tion from the increase of 50 per cent, in the per capita 
consumption of branvin in Norway between 1897 and 
1899.1 Some of the more important facts gathered in 
visits to four towns in which Samlags have been sup- 
pressed are set forth in the annexed table. 

It will there be seen that in Stavanger and Skein 
the bottle trade is regularly carried on, whilst in 
Brevik it is only necessary to go across a narrow 
strip of water in order to get spirits at bar or in 
bottle. It is also to be borne in mind that in these, 
as in all the other towns in Norway, beer and wine 
can be freely purchased. 

The great increase in the arrests for drunken- 
ness in Stavanger and Skein will be noticed. 
Mr. S. Urdahl, a well-known Temperance leader in 
Norway, wrote to the j)olice authorities in the 16 
towns where the Samlags were closed in 1896 and 
1897, inquiring as to the effect of the suppression upon 
sobriety. He received answers from 15 towns. None 
of the reports received from the different police officers 
shows that sobriety has been improved ; most of them 
point in the opposite direction. It is, however, to be 
remembered that this increase in drunkenness in the 
prohibition towns was coincident with a general 
1 See p. 476. 











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494 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

increase througliout tlie country, and is equally notice- 
able in Bergen and Christiania. The explanation 
universally given is that it is due to '4addevin" and 
" good times." 

As an indication of the trend of opinion upon the 
question of the suppression of the Samlags, it may be 
mentioned that, as early as March 20th, 1896, Mr. S. 
Urdahl, writing in support of the Bergen Samlag in 
the Bergens Aftensblad — stated that since the suppres- 
sion of the eleven Samlags in the previous year, there 
had been sure signs that already a reaction of public 
sentiment had set in, and, he added, '^we may be 
pretty sure that if not this year, then in a future 
parliament, proposals will be made for the requirement 
of a two-thirds majority to secure the suppression of a 
Samlag, instead of a simple majority as at present, 
and that the suppressionists in that case will, in most 
of the towns, be in a minority." ^ 

On a recent page it has been stated that ofEcial 
inquiry had shown that in the six years 1884-1889, 
59 per cent, of all the spirit sold in Norway had been 
sold at wholesale, i.e. in quantities of 40 litres and 
upwards. It was therefore to be expected that when 
the wholesale limit was suddenly raised to 250 litres, 
and an annual licence tax of about £55 imposed upon 
the wholesale dealer, the sales would show a great 
reduction, and such has been the case. 

Taking the official estimates of spirit sales in Nor- 
way from 1890 to 1899 (on the basis of 50 per cent. 
of alcohol) the figures are as follow : — 

^ Had a two-thirds majority been necessary for the suppres- 
sion of a Samlag, they would only have been suppressed in 5 
towns which together recorded 6,737 votes against the Samlags 



THE SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIMENTS 495 





Litres. 


Per Inhabitant 


1890 . . 


. 6,206,000 . . 


. 3-1 


1891 . 


. 7,328,000 . . 


. 3-7 


1892 . 


. 6,438,000 . 


. 3-2 


1893 . 


. 7,142,000 . 


. 3-5 


1894 . 


. 7,628,000 . 


. 3-8 


1895 . 


. . 7,110,000 . 


. . 3-5 


1896 . 


. . 4,827,000 . 


. . 2-3 


1897 . 


. . 4,637,000 . 


. . 2-2 


1898 . 


. . 5,566,000 . 


. . 2-6 


1899 . 


. . 7,247,000 . 


. 3-3 



It will be seen that in 1896 there was a sudden 
drop of 2,283,000 litres in the national consumption, 
representing a reduction at the rate of 32 per cent., 
whilst the figures of per capita consumption fell from 
3-5 litres to 2-3 litres. At first sight, then, it might 
seem that the new legislation had achieved a signal 
success, and the more so when it was seen that the 
consumption of beer in 1896 was less than in 1895. 
But a great and unexpected danger suddenly appeared. 
From 1891 to 1894 the annual importation of wine 
averaged 2,320,300 litres ; in 1895 the quantity was 
2,967,300 ; but in 1896 it rose with a bound to 
4,943,500 litres; in 1897 to 5,606,600; in 1898 to 
5,876,750, and in 1899 to 5,009,673.1 There was thus 
a rise in a single year of 1,976,200 litres, being at the 
rate of 67 per cent. This sudden inrush of '' wine " is 

^ The importations of wine per head of the popuhation in 
recent years have been as under : — 

Litres. 

1895 1'44 

1896 2-38 

1897 2-66 

1898 2-75 

1899 2-31 



496 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

one of the strange incidents of fiscal history. The 
three separate and unconnected causes which conspired 
to bring it about may be described in a few sentences. 

(1) In 1895, Norway entered into a new treaty 
of commerce with Portugal, under which Portuguese 
wines, up to 21 per cent, of alcoholic strength, were 
allowed to enter at the same low duty as the light 
French wines. 

(2) At the same time, an advance took place in 
the price of brandy, owing to an increase in the ex- 
cise duty of 27 per cent.^ In consequence of this 
increase in duty the Bergen Samlag, in 1896, raised 
the price of spirits in bottle 20 ore per litre, and made 
the dram glasses smaller. 

(3) At the same time also, through the advance 
in the minimum of a wholesale sale from 40 to 250 
litres, and through the abolition of the Samlag in 
certain towns, many spirit drinkers found their accus- 
tomed supplies shut off, or only to be had at greater 
trouble and expense. 

The distillers of Norway (or some of them), who 
must have been hard hit by the Act of 1894, saw in 
this conjunction of circumstances, and especially in 
the new treaty with Portugal, under which wines 
with a high degree of alcoholic strength could be 
admitted at a low duty, an opportunity of getting 
back a portion of their trade. If branvin could not 
be sold as branvin, could it not be sold as '^ wine " ? 
The experiment was facilitated by the Norwegian 

^ In 1888 the duty on Spirits (100 per cent, alcohol) was 
fixed at 1 kr. 60 ore (Is. d^d.) per litre. In February, 1894, the 
duty was advanced to 1 kr. 90 ore {2s. l^d.) per litre. In May, 
1895, the duty was further advanced to 2 kr. 40 ore (25. 8d.) per 
litre. — Statistical Abstract for Norway, 1897, p. 166. 



THE SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIMENTS 497 

Customs E,egulations, under wKich. a drawback was 
allowed upon exported spirit which, as in the case 
of the drawback upon beet sugar in France, worked 
out to more than the original tax. Large quantities 
of spirit were then sent to Hamburg, and smaller 
quantities to Copenhagen, where it was mixed with 
exceedingly common wine, and otherwise doctored and 
re-exported to Norway as " Oporto Wine." Through 
the negligence of the Norwegian Customs large quan- 
tities were at first admitted with an alcoholic strength 
of as much as 23 degrees. This has now been stopped, 
and considerable consignments have since been re- 
fused admission at the low rate.^ In 1896 and 1897, 
this imitation wine — known in Norway as '4addevin" 
— swept over the country as a flood, and being sold at 
one-third of the price of brandy, was accessible to all 
classes. No stringent restrictions interfered with its 
sale. The Act of 1894 was confined to liquors of over 
21 per cent, of alcoholic strength. "Wine and beer were 
outside the Company System. The enactment which 
provided that every town should have either a Samlag 
or prohibition, left the sale of wine and beer untouched. 
To take Bergen as an illustration. The Samlag has 
only eight places for the bar sale, and four for the retail 
(" Off") sale of spirits ; that is, 12 places in all where 
spirits can be bought. But there are in the town 62 
places where beer and wine can be obtained for consump- 
tion on the premises, and about 600 where it can be 

* Eeferring to the increased importation of wine in 1898, tlie 
Secretary of the Statistical Bureau, Christiania, in a letter to 
the present writers under date May 31st, 1899, saj^s : — 

" The wine imported in 1898 has most likely for the most part 
been natural wine from wine-producing countries, while 
in 1896-1897 a very great part of the wine was an arti- 
ficial product, imported from Hamburg and Copenhagen." 

32 



498 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

obtained in bottle. The facilities, therefore, for obtain- 
ing these doctored " wines " are practically unlimited. 
That this unchecked sale of laddevin has caused a 
great outbreak of drunkenness is universally admitted. 
The Committee of Revision, in their Report of February, 
1898, say : " That the great import, and the increasing 
consumption, of laddevin leads to a sad retrogression 
in the sobriety of the people is clear — laddevin contains 
the greatest danger for the inhabitants of the country, 
especially the working class, in respect of economical, 
moral, and social conditions." To draw any inference, 
therefore, from the increased drunkenness in Norway 
during the past three years, without taking the 
scourge of laddevin into account, is to ignore what 
the Norwegians themselves regard as the most potent 
factor. How the nation will deal with the difficulty 
is not very clear. Commercial treaties stand in the 
way of an alteration in the Customs duties, and the 
chemists of the Customs department report that no 
sufficiently clear and easily recognisable line can be 
drawn between highly brandied Portuguese wines and 
laddevin. The remedy which meets with most ac- 
ceptance is to require with each import a declaration 
of origin, i.e, a declaration of the place from which the 
wine was exported. 

Appropriation of Profits under the Act op 1894. 

One other important section of the Act of 1894 
remains to be noticed. The Norwegian method for 
the appropriation of the profits earned by the Samlags, 
although far better than that adopted in Sweden, was 
justly regarded with apprehension by the Temperance 
party. If ordinary charities — hospitals, dispensaries, 



THE SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIMENTS 499 

etc. — and valuable town improvements, such as public 
parks, were supported by or dependent for their carry- 
ing out upon the profits of the local drink trade, then 
it was only too likely that the effort of the community 
to restrict the trade would in time be checked. To 
guard against this danger, the Temperance party were 
able to embody in the Act of 1894 a most important 
change in the method of appropriating the profits. 

The new method of division, which was to be intro- 
duced gradually, commencing in 1896, but coming 
into full operation in 1901, is shown in the table 
below : — 





Share of Profit appropriated to 


Year. 


The 
Municipality. 


The Samlag. 


The State. 


1896 
1897 
1898 
1899 
1900 
1901 


15% + 15% 
15% 
15% 
15% 
15% 
15% 


20% + 50% 
20% + 40% 
20% + 30% 
20% + 20% 
20% + 10% 
20% 


2*5% 
35% 
45% 
55% 
65% 



The 15 per cent, to the municipality is merely an 
allowance in lieu of the much larger sums previously 
derived from the licence tax now abolished. The im- 
portant change is in the appropriation by the State of 
65 per cent, of the Samlag profits. This proportion is 
to be paid into the State Exchequer to form a special 
fund, the employment of which is hereafter to be 
determined by the Legislature. It is generally assumed 
that the moneys so appropriated will ultimately be 
applied to a scheme for granting Old Age Pensions. 
The 20 per cent, remaining to the Samlag is to be 
divided '' among the abstinence associations and other 



500 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

institutions and societies, in the town and neighbour- 
ing districts, of which the aim is to promote objects of 
general utility." 

"We cannot examine the Act of 1894 without being 
impressed by the strength of the Temperance senti- 
ment in Norway which made the adoption of such 
a measure possible. It has already been pointed out 
that the Company System facilitates progressive 
Temperance legislation. But it may be worth while 
briefly to consider why and in what way the Com- 
pany System exercises such an influence. In chapter 
II. of the present volume, evidence has been given of 
the enormous power which in this country the drink 
interest is able to exercise upon parliamentary and 
municipal elections. 

In Gi-reat Britain and Ireland this influence is 
primarily exerted through the 126,131 holders of 
"on" licences, who are "local instruments" of 
singular efflciency. Their trade interest is the same 
as that of the brewer or distiller, and they have 
become increasingly willing to carry out the electoral 
instructions of the great trade organizations. De- 
prived of these "local instruments," the brewers and 
distillers would lose most of their electoral force — they 
would be in a position analogous to that of a parlia- 
mentary candidate without a body of active workers. 
The legitimate influence of the Trade through public 
meetings and the press would remain, but that which 
makes it so portentous and threatening a power in the 
State would have ceased to exist. Now under the 
Company System there are no "local instruments." 
The managers of the Company shops are not, as in 
tied houses, dependent upon any brewer, nor are their 
interests at all bound up with the trade. The interest 



THE SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIMENTS 501 

of a bar manager, both in Sweden and in Norway, is 
to stand well with his committee ; and if a manager 
ever did attempt to influence an elector, he would run 
the risk of immediate dismissal. 

One cannot be surprised that American writers, 
familiar with the corrupting influence of the saloon 
in politics, should single out this feature of the Com- 
pany System for especial praise. Dr. Gould writes : 
" A conspicuous merit is the complete divorcing of the 
liquor traflic from politics. In these countries the 
elimination of the liquor element as a political power 
is complete." And again : ''In Norway every vestige 
and semblance of political influence is eliminated. In- 
deed, to my mind, this absolute separation which has 
been practically effected between liquor and politics is 
a conspicuous merit." 

These statements must be received with one im- 
portant qualification. It is the spirit traffic that has 
been divorced from politics, not the traffic in heer. 
The distiller has no " local instruments " through 
whom to work, but the brewer has thousands of such 
" instruments." Therefore, whilst the political power 
of the distiller is a thing of the past, that of the 
brewer remains intact. One is continually reminded of 
this when travelling in Scandinavia. The necessity of 
bringing beer under Company control is admitted on 
all hands ; but when inquiry is made whether legisla- 
tion in this direction is likely to be passed, one is told 
that the brewers are very wealthy and very powerful, 
and the change can only come after a fierce struggle. 

The Samlags and the Temperance Paety. 

The attitude of the Temperance party in Norway 
towards the Company sj^stem may be clearly seen in 



502 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

tlie following passages written by Mr. Sven Aarrestad, 
the leader of the Temperance party in the Storthing 
and in the country. 

The extracts are taken from the minorit}^ report of 
the Committee of Revision, drawn up by Mr. Aarre- 
stad, and bearing date March 1st, 1898 : — 

" As to beer, monopolizing must present itself as 
desirable. It appears that the breweries more and 
more gather within their sweep, and get under their 
control, both hotels, inns, and restaurants, and all 
kinds of places of public entertainment, in order to 
have the greatest possible power over all the channels 
through which beer can flow to the public ; in the 
greater towns especially it has come to this, that the 
breweries stand behind most of the businesses where 
beer is sold or drunk. The nominal owner is only a 
man of straw acting for the brewery. The brewery 
furnishes the premises, pays the rent, and supplies the 
necessary capital to start the business — if the man of 
straw can only get the licence. As to the rural dis- 
tricts, it is not a rare case that breweries in the towns 
are the real owners of tourist hotels, sanatoria, and 
such places, for which licences are asked. The 
breweries are businesses with very great capital, 
and as there are comparatively few of them, they 
can easily form a ' ring ' and there is already such a 
combination. How this ' ring ' might act in certain 
contingencies is clear from various indications, — among 
others, from a statement which has not been contra- 
dicted, that all the breweries have agreed not to 
furnish beer to the Samlags as cheaply as to private 
dealers, and this of course, in order, if possible, to 
prevent the sale of beer being monopolized by the 
Samlags. 



THE SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIMENTS 503 

"Another argument in favour of monopolizing is 
the fiscal consideration. Both the wine trade and the 
beer trade are good objects for taxation by the Ex- 
chequer. In our time, strong claims are made on the 
Exchequer from all directions, and it is often rather 
difficult to get a sufficient income. It seems, then, to 
be very feasible to lay a heavier tax than before on 
the beer and wine traffic — especially upon the wine 
traffic. Comparatively, the wine ought to be at least 
as expensive as brandy, and an increased taxation on 
wine can in the easiest way be obtained by mono- 
polizing its sale through a Samlag. 

" On the whole, it must he said that all trade with 
intoxicating drinks is fit for monopolizing. This is valid 
equally with the wine trade as with the hrandy trade, and 
it holds good also as to the heer trade — at least as to the 
stronger heerJ^ 

The Act drafted by Mr. Aarrestad, to give effect to 
his views, would allow either of the adding of wine, beer, 
etc., to the existing Samlags, or of the creation of new 
Samlags for these special drinks. Mr. Aarrestad 
further explained that whilst he considered the people 
had a right to vote upon the question of the es- 
tablishment or continuance of these beer Samlags as 
much as upon the establishment and continuance of 
the spirit Samlags, he did not, on grounds of expe- 
diency, recommend that the power of so voting should 
be conferred at present. 

To any in this country who ask whether the 
Controlling System, as carried out in Norway, is an 
influence for Temperance, this memorandum supplies 
the answer, unequivocal and decisive, which the leader 
of the Temperance party in Norway would give to such 
a question. The contrast is evidently clear in his 



504 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

mind between tlie aggressive action of the Trade, ever 
seeking new avenues for sale, and tlie restrictive 
influence of a controlling society. He marks and 
understands tlie instinctive kostility of the brewers 
to the Samlags, and deliberately, in this parliamentary 
report, expresses the opinion that " all trade with 
intoxicating drinks is fit for monopolizing." And it 
is not without significance that after three years' 
experience of the working of the popular vote upon 
the question of the suppression of the spirit Samlags, 
he does not, on grounds of expediency, recommend 
that the beer Samlags should at present be subject to 
such vote. 

The English student of the Controlling System may 
distrust arguments based upon figures which require 
to be studied in the full light of local conditions and 
used with the qualifications which only local know- 
ledge can supply, but he cannot be mistaken as to 
the conclusion respecting it which has been formed by 
Mr. Aarrestad, himself a prohibitionist, armed with a 
knowledge of the actual facts probably equal to that 
possessed by any other living person. It should be 
clearly understood that the Temperance reformer in 
this country who alleges the failure of the Control- 
ling System in Norway takes a view in direct opposi- 
tion to that of the leader of the Temperance party in 
Norway. 

The evidence of Mr. Lars 0. Jensen, Eight Worthy 
Grrand Templar for Norway, is also valuable in this 
connection. Speaking at the International Alcoholic 
Congress at the Hague, in 1893, Mr. Jensen said : — 

" The Samlag system of Norway has been an im- 
provement when compared with the old drinkshop 
system :— 



THE SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIMENTS 505 

" (1) It offers no inducement for tlie bar-tender to 
push, the sale of intoxicants as mucli as possible. 

" (2) It secures comparatively easy obedience to tlie 
liquor laws. 

'' (3) It does not allow sale on credit. 

" (4) It secures an early closing of tlie drinksliops ; 
and really many Samlags close their premises of their 
own accord when it is to be feared that people will 
indulge more than usually in spirits. 

" (5) It hinders the formation of an organized liquor 
party ; because the money derived from the traffic is 
used for charitable institutions and for the public 
benefit, and does not go to the liquor-dealers. 

'' When the Gothenburg system was introduced, it 
was feared that this system would throw an air of 
respectability about the drinking customs. This has 
not been so. On the contrary, it is regarded as a far 
greater shame to enter a Samlag shop than to enter 
an ordinary drinkshop or restaurant." ^ 

The position of the Temperance party with regard 
to the Samlags may be summed up by saying that its 
members universally prefer the Samlag to private 
licensing, but many of them regard the Samlag as a 
half-way house towards prohibition. 

CONCLUSION. 

We are now in a position to consider the defects and 
the advantages of the Company System, as carried out 
in Sweden and Norway. 

Defects of the Company System. 

(1) The most obvious and glaring defect is the 

* Report of the Hague Congress^ 1893 p. 277. 



5o6 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

method adopted in Sweden of appropriating tlie profits 
to the relief of rates. The ultimate danger of such a 
system must be insisted upon whilst giving full recog- 
nition to the intelligence and honesty with which the 
system has hitherto been conducted in the large towns. 

(2) The scheme for the appropriation of the profits 
adopted in Norway since the Act of July 24th, 1894, 
came into force, has few of the dangers which attach 
to the Swedish plan. There is, however, in the pro- 
visions of the Act an imperfect recognition of the need 
for providing counter-attractions to the public-house. 

(3) The method of sub- licensing which gives the 
licensee a direct interest in the extension of his sales, 
runs counter to the central principle of the Gothen- 
burg system, and when largely practised, as in Chris- 
tiania, goes far to neutralize the restrictive influence 
of the Company as carried out in its own shops. 

(4) The non-inclusion of beer and wine within the 
scope of the Companies has been a most serious 
obstacle to their success in combating intemperance. 

Advantages oe the Company System. 

(1) Alone of all the systems that have been adopted, 
it secures a divorce between politics and the drink 
trafflc.^ Drink-selling once divorced from politics can 
no longer serve as an instrument of corruption, and 
one of the greatest obstacles to social reforms is thus 
overcome. 

(2) When no political party is fettered by Trade 

* M. G. Blomquist, of Stockholm, speaking at the Hague Con- 
gress, after alluding to Sunday closing and tlie shortening of 
hours of sale, added : " But these legislative reforms have 
been possible by the introduction of the Gothenburg system in 
Sweden, because the publicans no longer have the slightest 
influence in the political life ofiSweden." 



THE SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIMENTS 507 

support, and tlie vested interests now associated with 
it are destroyed, a large body of Temperance sentiment 
is set free and tlie way made easy for progressive Tem- 
perance reforms. 

(3) A trade universally recognised as dangerous is 
taken out of the hands of the private dealer, who 
naturally seeks to extend it, and is brought under 
effective restriction and control. 

(4) This restriction, being locally applied under local 
representative authority, keeps pace with the Temper- 
ance sentiment of the locality. " The end sought is 
the reformation of popular habits, and it is reached by 
a series of evolutionary stages, each of which finds its 
sanction in advancing public sentiment." 

(5) If, as seems clear, prohibition is at present im- 
possible in large towns, the Controlling System provides 
what is incomparably the least harmful safety-valve. 
In Scandinavian towns there is no club difficulty, and 
no driving of the traffic below the surface. 

(6) The number of licensed houses can be reduced 
to the lowest limits which public opinion will support, 
while the difficulty that exists under private owner- 
ship in singling out any particular house to be closed 
is avoided. 

(7) Sales on credit and all the adventitious attrac- 
tions of the public-house are done away with. 

(8) Grambling and all the immoral accessories of the 
public -house are abolished. 

(9) 3ye-laws for the regulation of the Trade can be 
readib^ enforced and quickly adapted to the special 
needs of the locality. 

(10 The Controlling System secures for the com- 
muniy the vast monopoly profits which now go to 
those interested in the Trade, and makes it possible to 



5o8 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

use them for tlie establishment of adequate counter- 
acting agencies. 

(11) The system enlists the active co-operation of 
good citizens, and is responsive to an enlightened 
public opinion. 

If, then, it be asked to what practical conclusions of 
value to this country the experiments in Scandinavia 
point, we reply that there are two which far exceed 
all others in importance. The first, the bed-rock upon 
which any fabric of effective licensing reform must be 
built, is to take the trade out of private hands. So 
long as the private interest of the seller runs counter 
to the interest of the State, so long will the effort of 
the State to restrict and control the traffic be baffled. 

The second is that the Trade, when taken out of 
private hands, should be worked locally, not by the 
State, and should be subject to no other State control 
than that which is necessary to secure honest adminis- 
tration and the complete carrying out of the conditions 
determined by statutory law, under which the locali- 
ties carry on the traffic. 

For supplementary evidence upon the working of 
the Company System in Norway, see Appendix. 



CHAPTER IX 
The Solution of the Problem 

Part I. 
Inteoductory. 

THE concluding pages of the preceding cliapter 
indicate what the present writers regard as the 
essential principles of successful Temperance reform. 
Before proceeding to consider how these principles can 
be practically applied to this country, it is necessary 
to take account of certain specific proposals upon 
which Temperance workers have arrived at a general 
agreement. 

Eatio of Licences to Population. 

There is no single proposal upon which fuller agree- 
ment exists than that after a certain fixed date the 
number of licensed houses shall, by the action of 
Parliament, be considerably reduced. For the last 
thirty years the proposal chiefly in view among 
Temperance reformers in this country has been a 
statutory limit of one public-house for each 1,000 of 
the population in any urban area, and not more than 
one for each 600 of the population in any rural area. ^ 
More recently, however, the modified proposal em- 

^ This proposal, first suggested by Mr. Bruce, is embodied in 
the United Temperance Bill, the Churcli of England Temper- 
anci Society's Bill, the Bishop of Chester's Bill, and the 
Manchester Bill. In the Westminster Bill the proposal is 

509 



510 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

bodied in tlie Minority Report of tlie Royal Commis- 
sion on Liquor Licensing Laws, of one " On " licensed 
house for each 750 of the population in towns, and one 
for each 400 of the population in rural districts, has 
won widespread acceptance among Temperance re- 
formers, and may now be accepted as the authoritative 
suggestion of the Temperance party in this country. 
But this reduction cannot be effected until the ques- 
tion of compensation has been dealt with. 

Compensation. 

As far back as 1871, Mr. Bruce, in the great Licens- 
ing Bill which he brought forward on behalf of the 
Grovernment of the day, provided that, at the expira- 
tion of ten years from the passing of the Act, all 
licences existing at its commencement should abso- 
lutely determine. That is to say, he gave a ten years' 
notice, and no money compensation. Sir William Har- 
court's Liquor Traffic (Local Control) bill of 1893, and 
his Intoxicating Liquor Traffic (Local Control) Bill 
of 1895, both gave what was practically a three years' 
notice and no money compensation. 

The Bishop of Chester's Authorized Companies 
Liquor Bill provided (Clause 3) that, '' After the expi- 
ration of five years from tlie date of the establishment 
of an Authorized Company in any district^ any licence 
not held by the Company shall not, save as in the Act 
provided, be renewed, and shall expire at the close of 
the period for which it was granted." There is a 
further provision that if a licence is surrendered before 
the expiration of the live years, compensation nhall 
be paid for the unexpired period. 

1 per 1,000 in the urban centres, and 1 per 500 in the iural 
districts. 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 511 

Tlie proposals for compensation brought forward by 
Mr. Eitchie and Mr. aosclien in 1888 and 1890, on 
behalf of the powerful Government of which they 
were members, had, in both cases, to be withdrawn 
before the storms of opposition which they created. 

Referring to this in the House of Commons on 
AprH 28th, 1891, Mr. John Morley said: "I will 
express my doubt whether any Minister will ever 
again stand at that box and propose compensation 
by way of money payment." On the ground of 
abstract right, strong reasons may be urged against 
any form of compensation for the non-renewal of a 
licence after the expiration of the period for which the 
licence was granted. The risk of non-renewal is the 
condition under which this monopoly trade, carrying 
monopoly profits, is conducted. But with a view to 
the practical settlement of an urgent national ques- 
tion, we think it is clear that the line of least resist- 
ance will be a short-time notice, accompanied by a 
provision for money compensation (raised from the 
Trade) if the time period should be anticipated by the 
action of the community. 

Local Veto. 

Preceding chapters will have indicated the belief 
of the writers that a prohibition policy is not likely 
to be permanently adopted in the large towns or cities 
of the United Kingdom. But the experience of the 
United States of America, Canada, Norway, and Swe- 
den, extended over many years, indicates that the 
powf^r of local veto would be successfully exercised 
in many rural and suburban districts, and, possibly, 
in ^ome small towns. The sphere of its possible appli- 
cation can, however, only be determined by expe- 



512 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

rience. The principle of local veto has been accepted 
by one of the great parties in the State, and has been 
embodied in two separate measures brought forward 
by the Government of the day. It enlists the enthu- 
siastic support of a large majority of the Temperance 
party, and must necessarily form part of any great 
measure of licensing reform which is to receive their 
united support. 

If any village, town, or city, or any district of a 
town or city, ^ wished to be without a public-house, 
it should be able by a popular vote to give effect to its 
wish, independently of any previous decision of the 
licensing authority. The majority required to give 
effect to the veto should, however, in no case be less 
than two-thirds of those voting. If one or more 
wards in a city vetoed the placing of any licensed 
house within its limits, such licences should be actu- 
ally cancelled, and not added to the number allotted 
to the other wards. 

* In Sir William Harcourt's Intoxicating Liquor Traffic 
(Local Control) Bill of 1895. it was provided (Clause 9) that " the 
areas for the piirposes of this Act shall be : — 

(a) in the case of a county or other municipal borough or 
urban district not divided into wards, that borough or 
district. 
(6) in the case of a county or other municipal borough or 
Lirban district divided into wards, a ward of that borough 
or district ; 

(c) in any rural district a parish ; or where such parish has 

been divided into wards for the purpose of the election 
of a council, a ward of that parish ; 

(d) in London a sanitary district within the meaning of the 

Public Health (London) Act of 1891, or if such district, 
being outside the city of London, is divided into wards 
or comprises several parishes, then any such wacd or 
parish, or where such last -mentioned parish is divided 
into wards, then any such ward." 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 513 

Paet II. 

THE PEOBLEM OF THE TOWNS. 

The foregoing proposals, it will be seen, are of a far- 
reacMng character, and, if adopted by the legislature, 
would unquestionably lead to important reforms. But 
there is this to be said concerning them: that they 
contemplate only restrictive and administrative action, 
and contribute nothing to that positive and construc- 
tive policy which is so imperatively needed. 

For the purposes of practical discussion let us 
assume that agreement has been come to upon the 
foregoing proposals, and that inter alia the number 
of public-houses in the United Kingdom has been 
reduced to the suggested statutory limit. How far, 
we may then ask, have we actually travelled in the 
direction of permanent reform ? 

It is estimated that a reduction in the number of 
licensed houses to a proportion of not more than one 
to each 400 of the population in rural districts, and 
to not more than one to each 750 of the population 
in the towns, would reduce the number of '' On " 
licences in the United Kingdom by nearly one-half, 
that is to say, from 126,000 to 65,000 or 70,000. If 
we make the fullest allowance for a still further 
reduction as the result of the operation of the popular 
veto — a reduction that probably would not be very 
great in the first instance — the number of licensed 
houses that would remain would still be very con- 
siderable. Now the question at once arises. What 
should be the policy and aim of Temperance reformers 
in respect of these ? It cannot for one moment be 
supposed that the State would consent to make a gift 

33 



514 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

to the owners of these houses of the enormous addition 
to their value — amounting to several millions per 
annum — that would accrue from the closing of com- 
peting houses. Clearly, therefore, the nation would 
be compelled to adopt one of two alternatives. It 
must either agree to establish a system of High 
Licence {i.e. by allotting the permitted licences — as 
was proposed in Mr. Bruce 's Bill ^ — to the person or 
persons tendering the highest licence fee, or, if this 
method be disapproved, by drastic revision of the 
present statutory fees) ; or it must provide a scheme 
for taking the Trade out of private hands. 

Under a system of High Licence certain important 
results would undoubtedly be achieved. The houses 
would be better conducted, and the licensing laws 
would in all probability be more easily and fully 
carried out, but the menace of the Trade to the public life 
of the country loould remain ; for, although the licensed 
houses would be fewer, they would be in the hands 
of wealthier and abler men, capable as an electoral 
force of more perfect organization and power. More- 
over, the Trade would be left in the hands of those 
who would have every inducement to extend it. 



^ The Clause in Mr. Bruce's Bill bearing on this point was as 
follows : Clause 13. — " Where a new publican's general certifi- 
cate is to be granted for any licensing district, the same 
shall be granted to the person who offers by tender, made 
as hereinafter mentioned, to pay for the same during the con- 
tinuance of the certificate, the highest annual percentage on 
the annual value of his premises (in this Act referred to as a 
licence rent), and conforms to the provisions of this Act with 
respect to such tender and certificate, and the other matters 
hereinafter contained, and such certificate, when granted, may 
be attached to any premises selected by the grantee, and ap- 
proved by the licensing justices." 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 515 

Not only so, but that liberation of tlie latent pro- 
gressive resources of each, community whicb, as we 
Lave seen, is the all-important principle of reform, 
so far from being facilitated, would encounter even 
more determined opposition from the interests involved 
in the traffic that remained. 

The Elimination of Peivate Peoeit. 

It remains, therefore, to consider whether the first 
step towards an ultimate solution of the problem in 
the towns does not demand the complete elimination 
of private interest from the conduct of the traffic ? 
The question may best be answered by a rapid survey 
of the chief objections to the present system. 

(a) Monopoly Values. 

Let us take the financial aspect of the question first. 
One of the most obvious of the drawbacks to the 
present system is the loss which the community suffers 
through the private appropriation of the " values " 
created by a monopoly licence. 

The matter, it is true, is of less moment to the 
community than are the moral and political evils that 
result from the private conduct of the liquor traffic ; 
but it is, nevertheless, of such enormous public import- 
ance as to make it almost incredible that the nation 
should so long have been indifferent to it. 

Under the present system, a licence to retail 
alcoholic liquors carries with it a huge monopoly 
value, amounting frequently to thousands of pounds, 
to which the recipient has absolutely no claim. In 
other words, the State, in conferring a licence, bestows 
upon the licensee at the same time a huge monetary 
gift, in the shape of an " unearned increment," to 



5i6 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

whicli lie lias not tlie smallest title, and for which, 
he makes no return. 

The absolute folly of the system can be best exposed 
by a few well-authenticated illustrations. In 1897 
the Wharf Hotel premises, Sowerby Bridge, were 
sold by public auction for £4,150. Subsequently the 
licence was transferred to new premises in the neigh- 
bourhood, and the former building, stripped of its 
licence, was resold in November, 1898, for £785.^ The 
licence, therefore, in this case clearly added £3,365 to 
the value of the house. 

An even better illustration is that given by Mr. E. 
E-. Pease in his recent pamphlet on Liquor Licensing at 
Home and Abroad. ^ " An acquaintance of mine is 
proprietor of an old-established, eminently respectable 
hotel, which for years had been unlicensed. A few 
years ago he obtained a licence, and speaking of it to 
me he said : ' It is worth £10,000 to me, and I got it 
for the asking.' Can any method of managing a 
public trust be more absurd ? A monopoly worth 
£10,000 is granted for the asking, simply because the 
asker is eminently respectable ! " ^ 

The following additional illustrations — which the 

* Yorkshire Evening Post, November 3rd, 1898. 

2 Fabian Tract, No. 85. 

^ A similar case was described in the House of Commons by- 
Mr. W. S. Caine on May 12tb, 1890 : " A man built a house a 
short time ago, close to Burscough Junction, a country station 
near Ormskirk, in Lancashire. It cost him £400. He applied 
for and got a beer licence ; then he got a spirit licence ; then he 
sold the house for £4,000. He walked into court worth £400 ; 
he walked out (with a certificate, for which he had paid nothing) 
worth £4,000. What did the brewer, who bought his house for 
£4,000, get ? Bricks and mortar worth £400, and the purely 
speculative chance — no doubt a good chance — of getting a twelve 
months' licence renewed. 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 517 

present writers have been careful to authenticate — are 
equally suggestive of the folly that characterizes the 
present system. Eight years ago, a public-house was 
built in a northern colliery village, from which the 
traffic had hitherto been excluded. The actual cost 
of the building, exclusive of the land, was £6,500, but 
when licensed its rental value was immediately fixed at 
£1,000 a year, while at the present time it is let at a 
' rental of £1,800 a year. Owing to an extension of the 
village — the population of which at the present time is 
about 12,000 — a second and larger public-house, in the 
form of a fine hotel, has since been built, and this was 
recently sold for no less than £40,000 — a price that was 
considered low ! 

In another small northern town a new licence was 
granted in 1897 to a small house valued at £3,500. 
On receipt of the licence the owner immediately sold 
the house for £24,500 ! This sum was stated as the 
purchase price by the purchaser's solicitor when 
appearing before the licensing justices in 1898 in oppo- 
sition to applications made on behalf of the late owner 
for two fresh licences in the neighbourhood of his 
client's house. 

It would not be difficult, if space permitted, to multi- 
ply evidence on the point, but three further illustra- 
tions must suffice. 

On August 11th, 1896, a property known as the 
Masonic Hotel, situate in Lark Lane, Liverpool, with 
a dwelling-house and shop and two rear cottages 
adjoining, was sold at public auction for £28,300 ! 
The property, as will be seen from the accompanying 
photograph (Plate XXIII.) is a comparatively small 
public-house, and has no monopoly of trade, there being 
several other licensed houses in the neighbourhood. 



5i8 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

The Liverpool Courier^ in reporting the sale, said : " The 
sale of a public-house in the suburbs of Liverpool for 
no less a sum than £28,300 is a unique event. The 
Masonic Hotel, in Lark Lane, Sefton Park, was sold 
on Tuesday by auction at the price mentioned. Several 
instances might be cited of still higher prices having 
been paid in London, but this is probably the largest 
amount ever given for a public-house in Liverpool. 
. . . One remarkable feature of the sale was the 
circumstance of the price being upwards of £15,000 
beyond the expectations of the vendors. The reserve 
on the property was about £12,500, and the fall of the 
hammer at £28,300 naturally caused a sensation 
amongst the numerous company assembled." ^ 

But this is not an isolated case. 

On July 1st, 1896, the "Crooked Billet," a fully 
licensed house situate in Scotswood Road, Newcastle- 
on-Tyne, with cocoa rooms and dwelling-house adjoin- 
ing, was sold at public auction. The house (see Plate 
XXiy.) is one of the oldest hostelries in Newcastle, and 
stands immediately opposite one of the entrances of the 
Armstrong-Whitworth Company's Works. The area 
of the property was stated to comprise 450 square 
yards. The attendance at the auction was very large, 
and the value of the house as licensed property was 
quickly demonstrated by the keen competition which 
characterized the bidding. Competition began with a 
bid of £10,000, and this was quickly followed by two 
advances of £1,000 each. The ultimate price reached 
was £15,800. The same house had been sold forty 
years earlier for £900, and no important structural 
alterations had been made in the interval. The house 
has since been pulled down and rebuilt. 

^ Liverpool Courier^ August 14tli, 1896. 




o *- 
q -o 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 519 

The '^Ord Arms" (see Plate XXV.) is another New- 
castle house, situate in the same road as the '' Crooked 
Billet," about a mile outside the boundary of the city, 
but opposite the gateway of a new yard that the 
Armstrong- Whitworth Company are intending to 
open. The house, a plain and unpretentious build- 
ing, with about half an acre of land adjoining, was 
sold in 1898 for £28,100 — a sum which the auctioneer 
afterwards acknowledged to be twenty times its value 
without the licence. The full extent of the monopoly 
value is easily realized when it is added that the 
Twizell estate in Northumberland, comprising a man- 
sion and 700 acres of land, was sold by auction in the 
same week for £25,000 ! It is surely impossible to re- 
quire a more scathing exposure of the folly of our 
existing licensing arrangements ! It may be urged, of 
course, that the cases quoted are exceptional, but it is 
difficult to believe that this is so in face of evidence 
that is everywhere available. The London Daily 
Chronicle^ in its review of the Property Sales of 1897, 
described the competition for licensed property as fol- 
lows : " The extraordinary prices which are realized for 
licensed property may be said to have reached their 
maximum when such sums are paid as £80,000 for 
a freehold ground rent of £8 per annum, secured on the 
E,oyal Oak public-house, Bayswater, with reversion to 
the premises in eight years ; the Liverpool Arms and 
Eoyal Oak, Barking Eoad, £112,000 ; the Eed Lion 
public-house, "Walworth Eoad, Camberwell, held on a 
term of forty-nine years' lease at a rental of £500 per 
annum, £50,000 ; the Freehold of the French Horn and 
Half Moon public-house. East Hill, Wandsworth, with 
possession, £56,000 ; the Pontefract Castle public-house, 
Mary lebone, with sixty years' lease, at a rental of £300 



520 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

per annum, £49,500 ; the Crown, Lavender Hill, 49^ 
years, at £150 per annum, £46,850 ; and numerous 
others, ranging from £30,000 to £50,000." ^ 

The anomaly is intensified by the reluctance to 
grant new licences, which happily characterizes the 
policy of many local licensing authorities in England, 
since by concentrating the traffic it increases the com- 
petition for existing licences, and in this way greatly 
enhances their monopoly value. The full importance 
of this fact is sufficiently indicated by the growth in 
value of licensed property in London since 1850. 

In his evidence before the Select Committee of the 
House of Commons in 1854, Mr. Alderman Wire, the 
Secretary of the Licensed Victuallers' Association, 
stated that there were 6,000 licensed victuallers in the 
metropolitan district, the average value of whose 
houses could not be put down at " less than £1,000." 
The aggregate value of the licensed property in London 
he estimated at £6,000,000.^ 

In 1872, according to the estimate of Professor 
Leone Levi,^ the number of public-houses and beer- 
shops within the metropolitan area had risen to 10,000, 
and their average value to £1,500. 

In 1897, on the other hand, according to the esti- 

^ The London City Mission in its Sixty-third Annual Eeport 
(published in 1898), in referring to the work of one of its agents 
in a poverty-stricken district near the docks, makes mention of 
two public-houses in the district which sold for £45,000 and 
£60,000 respectively. 

^ Evidence of the Select Committee on Public-houses, 1854, qq. 
10,065-6. 

^ Journal of the Statistical Society of London, vol. XXXV., 
part 1. — In his evidence before the Lords' Committee, five years 
later (z.e. in 1877), Professor Levi estimated the average value of 
public-houses in the metropolis at £2,500. 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 521 

mate of Mr. E. N. Buxton, a partner in one of the 
largest brewer}?- firms in the country, the aggregate 
value of the licensed houses in London (including fully- 
licensed houses, beer-houses, " on " and " off," and 
refreshment houses, but excluding the large hotels) 
was, at a low estimate, £60,000,000^ — a sum which, 
divided among the whole of the public-houses, beer- 
shops C' on " and " off"), and refreshment houses in the 
Metropolitan Police area, gives an average value of 
between £5,000 and £6,000 per house.^ The average 
value of a fully-licensed house in the metropolis 
(excluding the large hotels) is, of course, very much 
higher than this, and amounts, according to Mr. 
Buxton, to between £10,000 and £11,000.^ 

It will thus be seen that the value of licensed pro- 
perty in London has increased fourfold within the last 
twenty-five years, while it is six times as great as 
it was in 1850. 

That the anomaly should have gone so long un- 
remedied is the more remarkable from the fact that 
considerable emphasis was laid upon it by the Lords' 
Committee on Intemperance in 1879. In referring to 
the matter in their Eeport, the Committee state ; 
''Much evidence was given in favour of increasing the 
duty on excise licences for consumption of liquor on the 

^ Evidence of the Boyal Commission on Liquor Licensing 
Laws, vol. III., p. 283. 

^ The total number of public-houses, beer-shops (" on '^ and 
" off"), and refreshment-houses in the Metropolitan Police area 
in 1897 was 11,411. 

^ The statement may be given in Mr. Buxton's own words : 
" I have taken out the actual value at the present time of about 
500 licensed houses, large and small. The value of those 500 
houses, which are certainly a fair sample, is £5,367,000." (Aver- 
age £10,734.) 



522 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

premises. It lias been already stated that one effect of 
the changes made by the Act of 1872 in the manner of 
granting such licences has been practically to prevent 
the increase of their number, while the operation of the 
Act of 1869 had been considerably to decrease the 
number of beer-house licences. The effect of this 
legislation has been largely to raise the value of this 
property, and it would seem but just that the public 
should receive a greater portion than hitherto of the 
profits of a monopoly thus artificially created." 

The importance of the question is at last begin- 
ning to be realized, and the fact that it has been 
publicly referred to in more than one licensing court 
in the course of the last few months is in itself a 
notable sign of an impending change. 

Lord Provost Mitchell Thomson, addressing the 
Edinburgh Licensing Court on April 12th, 1898, 
occasioned some sensation by his pertinent remarks 
on the subject. " The dealing in licences," he said, 
"had become notorious. Grocers' licences were now 
sold at an average price of £1,000, and public-house 
licences realized, on an average, from £6,000 to 
£10,000. That money, he contended, belonged to 
the public. As the law stood, however, the Court had 
no right to any portion of these sums, but he inti- 
mated that in future he should be exceedingly jealous 
of granting new licences unless perfectly satisfied of 
the urgent need for the same." ^ 

The Chairman of the "West Castle Ward Bench 
(Newcastle-on-Tyne), in his address to the Court in 
August last, was even more explicit. Referring to the 
new applications then before the Court, he said : 
" There are over twenty applications for new licences 
1 Daily News, April 13th, 1898. 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 523 

in the West Castle Ward, and the Bench is again face 
to face with a question which I submit should not in its 
present form be left to them to decide. As I ventured 
to point out last year, by the steady limitation of the 
number of licences, a monopoly has been established 
which causes such licences to become of very sub- 
stantial value indeed. I suppose that each licence 
now applied for may be worth over £5,000, or, in 
other words, the Bench to-day is to be asked to grant 
licences worth £100,000; that is to say, to make a 
present of £100,000 to certain parties for whose claim, 
in preference to others, there is no valid reason. More- 
over, while the community gets no adequate quid pro 
quo for this, the erection of a public-house not infre- 
quently reduces the value of the neighbouring pro- 
perty. In one case which has been named to me, an 
owner of a house in a suburban district found that 
his property was reduced £1,500 in value by the 
granting of a licence, which licence was shortly after- 
wards sold for more than £10,000. The magistrates 
of this county are here to administer justice. Can it 
be justice to rob Peter in order to pay a licensed 
victualler, who, though he may be a most worthy 
individual, will probably not even claim to be an 
Apostle Paul? ... I stated this time last year, 
that the aggregate value of the licences in the city 
of Newcastle alone was probably £2,000,000, but it 
has been represented to me that £3,000,000 would 
be within the mark, and further, that the value is 
daily increasing. If this be the case, some conception 
may be formed of the huge vested interest, so to 
speak, which is growing up in our midst. You will 
find that the figures, as applied to the whole United 
Kingdom, mount up to a sum approaching in amount 



524 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

the National Debt itself. Anotlier way of realizing 
what these figures mean, would be to say that a tax 
of 5 per cent, only upon the monopoly would pay off 
the whole debt of Newcastle City in from ten to fifteen 
years. Or, again, that 5 per cent, upon the value of 
the licences would pay more than half all the rates." ^ 
In the face of figures such as these it is almost 
superfiuous to urge that no reform of the licensing 
system can pretend to be final which does not grapple 
with and solve this problem of monopoly values. The 
values are State-created values, accidentally conferred 
upon private individuals in the effort of the State 
to safeguard a dangerous trade. Equity and reason, 
therefore, demand that they shall be appropriated for 
State or public ends. 

(b) The Pushing of Sales. 

But although the private appropriation of State- 
created values is a serious defect of our present 
system, it is of less importance to the community 
than are the moral and political evils that spring 
from a liquor traffic conducted for private gain. If 
the ultimate intent of a licensing system be, by limit- 
ing competition, to reduce to a minimum the evil con- 
sequences of the traffic, it is easy to see that our 
present system is fundamentally defective and vicious. 
It is, to begin with, difiicult to diminish the evils of 
intemperance while we persist in giving the man who 
sells the liquor a direct pecuniary interest in the ex- 
tent and value of his sales. The private interest of 
the publican demands that he shall push his trade by 
every device and attraction that can be brought with- 
in the letter of a curiously ambiguous law ; while the 
^ Newcastle Evening Chronicle, August 27tli, 1898. 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 525 

interest of the State, on the other hand, requires that 
his trade shall be restricted and discouraged at every 
possible point. Sooner or later these opposing ideas 
must inevitably come into collision, and that they 
have already done so, with disastrous results to the 
community, is matter of widespread experience. 

That the danger is not a new one, but one inherent 
in every licensing system that sanctions the principle 
of private profit, is clear from the concurrent testi- 
mony of widely divergent authorities. As far back 
as 1850, a Select Committee of the House of Lords — 
appointed to inquire into the operation of the Acts for 
the Sale of Beer — reported: — ''It was already suffi- 
ciently notorious that drunkenness is the main cause 
of crime, disorder, and distress in England ; and it 
appears that the multiplication of houses for the con- 
sumption of intoxicating liquors, which under the 
Beer Act has risen from 88,930 to 123,396, has been 
thus in itself an evil of the first magnitude, not only 
by increasing the temptations to excess, which are 
thus presented at every step, but by driving houses, 
even those under the direct control of the magistrates, 
as well as others originally respectable, to practices, 
for the purpose of attracting custom, which are de- 
grading to their own character, and most injurious 
to morality and order." 

Eeferring to the extreme difficulty of controlling 
the traffic, the Committee continue : '' But, perhaps, 
the evil of all the most difficult to deal with, is the 
absence of all control save by legal conviction ; a 
result, by the common consent of all the witnesses 
who have spoken on the subject, almost impracticable 
to attain ; the parties who frequent the beer-house 
being usually unwilling to give information of what 



526 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

passes within ; and if they do, being met by other 
witnesses in contradiction, who are always ready for 
such a purpose, and who are sufHcient to prevent the 
facts from being ascertained. The only fact of dis- 
order, which is open to observation, is irregularity of 
hours, and for this only are they practically amenable 
to the law." ^ 

Four years later, another Select Committee — 
appointed by the House of Commons to examine 
into the system under which public-houses, hotels, 
beer- shops, etc., were then sanctioned and regulated — 
reported: — " There are no doubt many publicans and 
beer-shop keepers who exercise the utmost vigilance 
to prevent drunkenness on their premises, and to keep 
bad characters out of their houses, and who spare no 
pains to conduct their business with respectability ; 
but the temptation is strong to encourage intemper- 
ance, and a vast number of the houses for the sale of 
intoxicating drinks live upon drunkards and the sure 
progress of multitudes to drunkenness, whilst numbers 
of them are the habitual haunts of the idle and aban- 
doned, of thieves, prostitutes, and the adepts and 
learners of crime." Twenty -three years later the 
mischievous results of the existing system were once 
more brought before the attention of Parliament. The 
occasion was the memorable debate which took place 
in the House of Commons on March 13th, 1877, on 
Mr. Chamberlain's motion in favour of permissive 
powers for the municipalization of the liquor traffic. 
In describing the defects of the present system, Mr. 
Chamberlain said : — 

" Two hundred thousand licensed victuallers in this 
country were legitimately engaged in more or less 
* For ilkistration of this, see p. 448. 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 527 

successfully trying to increase their business. The 
result was seen in gin palaces blazing with gas, and 
decorated with a splendour which compared inversely 
with the squalor and misery of those who frequented 
those places ; and when it was also seen that the old 
respectable public-houses were being transformed into 
spirit vaults and saloons, everybody must feel that 
this expenditure must have suf&cient motive, and that 
excessive drinking returned a sufHcient dividend upon 
the investment thus made. Again, excessive competi- 
tion almost forced the Trade against their will to wink 
at abuses. ... It was said that the existing law 
contained sufficient provisions for the regulation of 
the traffic and the prevention of excess. These pro- 
visions, however, absolutely broke down in practice, 
and so it happened that in Birmingham, Liverpool, 
and other large towns, while there was an enormous 
number of persons convicted and punished for drunk- 
enness, hardly any of the owners of public-houses 
were ever brought up for supplying them with drink. 
The only way, therefore, to secure the 
observance of existing regulations, or of any which 
in future might be devised, would be by making the 
interests of those who made the regulations and those 
who carried on the trade identical." ^ 

In other words, the first principle in licensing re- 
form must be the entire elimination of private profit 
from the conduct of the traffic. Until this has been 
effected, the public-house will continue largely to be 
what it admittedly often is at the present time, a 
nursery of drunkenness and crime, not only opposed 
to, but absolutely incompatible with, good morals and 
pure government. As matters stand at present, the 

* Hansard's Debates, vol. 232, pp. 1864-5. 



528 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

lucrative character of the traffic '' defies all precautions 
and all restrictive legislation." ^ 

(c) Evasion of Law. 

That this statement is not an unjust criticism of 
the present system is apparent from the evidence of 
those who are charged with the administration of 
public justice and law. Mr. Justice Grantham, speak- 
ing at the Liverpool Assizes in 1888, showed himself 
keenly alive to the disastrous social consequences that 
result from a traffic conducted for private gain. " I 
will do all I can," he said, "to take some steps to 
have houses dealt with where men who are served 
with liquor afterwards go out and half murder people. 
These publicans seem to serve men up to the last 
possible moment in order to make unholy profits out 
of this horrid traffic." 

Reverting to the subject at the Liverpool Assizes 
in the following year, he said : "I cannot help think- 
ing that those who have the control of public-houses 

* The importance of this reform is beginning to be widely- 
recognised. A recent writer, in discussing the problem of the 
slums in Leeds, says : " It is pretty clear, therefore, that public- 
houses exist as conveniences for sober people, but it is also clear 
that the system of payment by profit on liquor sold tends to en- 
courage the publican in converting his customers into drunkards. 
My reason for dwelling so much on this point is to bring out 
the fact, that the management of public-hoiises by men who are 
interested in the sale of drink must ever tend to make licensed 
premises mere drinking-dens, and that, until this element of 
personal gain is eliminated, drunkenness will continue to be 
the natural outcome of attendance at the public-house. As I 
have already shown, the habit of attending these places is most 
prevalent in our slum districts, and, therefore, this question of 
management must form a very serious element in the produc- 
tion of the excessive drinking and drunkenness which there 
prevails." — D. B. Fostee, Leeds Slumdom. 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 529 

do not put the law in force as it exists at present ; or, 
if they do, it is quite clear we want some more drastic 
law, which will enable us to punish those who have it 
in their power to withhold drink from these people, 
but who, for the purpose of ill-gotten gain, go on giv- 
ing drink so long as they can get people steady 
enough to give them money for it." 

The question received special emphasis at several of 
the licensing courts in 1898. The Chairman of the 
Birmingham Licensing Sessions, in discussing a num- 
ber of cases where publicans had been convicted of 
serving drunken persons, said: "Why do publicans 
draw the line so fine ? They supply these people who 
a moment after are so drunk that they are fighting 
every one, and are a public nuisance, and yet these 
persons who are supposed to be skilled in the trade 
do not see it. Mr. Ansell gave an instance which 
had come under his personal observation of the man- 
ner in which a drunken person steadied himself when 
entering a public-house for more drink. ... It 
was only occasionally that such matters came to the 
knowledge of the police and the justices, and they 
had to consider how difficult it was to hear of one 
hundredth part of what occurred. There would not 
be so much drunkenness in the town if licence-holders 
would only do their duty." ^ 

The Stipendiary of Leeds, in discussing the same 
question in September, 1898, spoke with equal plain- 
ness and force. "These provisions (i.e., those relat- 
ing to the permitting of drunkenness on licensed pre- 
mises)," he said, "are the cardinal provisions upon 
which the whole machinery of our licensing admin- 
istration is hinged, and if they could be enforced 

^ Birmingham Daily Post, August 26th, 1898. 

34 



530 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

with rigour and determination by a vigilant execu- 
tive, and administered by an impartial tribunal, we 
sbould, as I believe, hear little of the necessity for 
licensing reform. Now, I am satisfied that in a 
certain number of public-houses and beer-shops — that 
is to say, in a comparatively small, though I am 
sorry I cannot add insignificant, number of such 
places — there is a systematic disregard of these pro- 
visions. I am satisfied that drunkenness there pre- 
vails systematically and extensively. I arrive at this 
conclusion not merely on the evidence given directly 
before me in connection with charges of robbery 
committed on these premises, but also, and indeed, 
more especially, as the result of careful investigation 
as to the whereabouts of criminals immediately prior 
to the commission of crimes committed by them 
when in a state of intoxication, and in particular 
crimes of violence committed within a few minutes 
of the hour of closing, and within a few yards of the 
doorway of a licensed house." ^ 

Such statements could easily be multiplied, but it is 
hardly necessary to do so. They are simply referred 
to here to illustrate a condition of things to which no 
social worker can be indifferent, and which must be 
regarded as almost inevitable under a system of 
private licence. 

(d) Opposition to Reform. 

If further evidence of the failure of the present 
system were required, it could easily be found in the 
attitude of licensed liquor-dealers towards simple but 
important reforms. The avowed policy of the 

^ Leeds Mercury ^ September 22nd, 1898. 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 531 

" Trade " is, indeed, one of determined and organized 
hostility to proposals for reform. 

Mr. Charles Walker, Chairman of the Licensed 
Yictnallers' Central Protection Society of London, 
speaking on November 6th, 1899, said: — 

'' That it [i.e., the Central Board] was a force every 
one admitted, especially those who attempted to pass 
legislation opposed to Trade interests. . . . The 
United Parliamentary Council would meet next week, 
and it would probably formulate a programme that 
would be in its terms clear and unmistakable." He 
added : — 

" The time had arrived when the Trade must put 
down its foot, and their organizations must be main- 
tained and strengthened." ^ 

The same speaker, in presiding, a week later, over 
the autumn conference of the United Parliamentary 
Council of the Eetail Liquor Trade, said : — 

'' Gentlemen, the time, in my judgment, has now 
arrived for the Council to determine on a plan of 
decided action. A period has been reached in the 
affairs of the Trade when it has become imperative for 
the Council to seriously consider its function. . . . 
To-day should mark an epoch in the history of this 
Council. The Council should at once proceed to formu- 
late a defensive programme in clear and unmistakable 
terms, and to accompany it with a corresponding 
demand to all sections of the Trade to give to it a 
rigid observance and support. Let the death knell of 
irresolution be sounded far and near, and thereby 
notify to the Trade that a policy of united, active, and 
determined opposition to the Trade's traducers and to 
the Trade's enemies has been entered upon." ^ 

* The Licensing WorM, November 11th, 1899. 
^ The Licensing World, November 18tb, 1899. 



532 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

THe Licensing World of November 25tli, 1899, in 
referring to the prospective action of the Trade in 
reference to proposals based upon the Reports of the 
E-oyal Commission, said : '' It is quite true . . . 
that the United Parliamentary Council has determined 
to formulate a plan of decided action. Mr. Walker 
advised the adoption of this course, and it will un- 
doubtedly be taken. It is quite possible that we may 
have to fight through a General Election next year, 
and in any case this struggle cannot be postponed much 
longer after that date. The time for preparation is 
none too long, and our contemporary can scarcely be 
surprised that the responsible leaders of the Trade 
should be making ready for a great emergency. Per- 
haps it would like to know what our plan of campaign 
is to be. WeU, we can only refer it to the reported 
proceedings of the United Parliamentary Council. As 
Mr. Walker declared, and as the Council decided, the 
Trade will oppose to the utmost any further limita- 
tion of the hours of opening on Sunday. Nothing in 
the nature of a systematic reduction of licences will 
be accepted unless accompanied by a fair and adequate 
scheme of compensation. The suggested abolition of 
a licence-holder's right of appeal against the decision 
of possibly biassed magistrates will be resisted as 
unfair. The question of serving child-messengers is 
regarded as affecting the public quite as much as the 
pubhcans, though some form of legislation on this 
point may prove acceptable ; any attempt to impose 
illegal conditions at present will be opposed, and the 
proposal to make sixteen the limit of age under which 
no young person can be served as a messenger is 
palpably absurd." 

An even graver indication of the policy a^nd methods 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 533 

of the Trade was given by Mr. E. Johnson, a Trustee 
of the Licensed Victuallers' Central Protection Society 
of London, when addressing the Annual Greneral 
Meeting of the South East London Society on January 
10th, 1900. The following is an extract from his 
speech : — 

" The Bills affecting the Trade which were likely to 
be introduced during the coming session of Parliament 
would relate to Sunday closing, sale to children, and 
the limitation of licences. These were matters to the 
injustice of which it was the duty of the licensed 
victualler to educate the people in the district in 
which he lived. The voting power of a licence-holder 
was nothing near so important as the influence which he 
was able to bring to hear upon those by whom he was 
surrounded.''^ ^ 

Finally, the Secretary of the National Defence 
League, speaking at the Annual Dinner of the Metro- 
politan Beer and Wine Trade Protection Society on 
February 6th, 1900, said :— 

" It was a matter of extreme importance that they 
should carefully watch all Parliamentary procedure. 
For instance, a Bill was down to be introduced into the 
House on Friday which had for its object to prevent a 
child of sixteen and under being served with alcoholic 
beverages. Organizations such as theirs not only were 
beneficial to the members of the Trade, but also to 
the public generally. They might depend upon the 
efforts of the combined protective machinery through- 
out the country being put forward at full pressure in 
the event of any attempted interference with their 
just rights or best interests." 

What these ''just rights " and '' best interests " are 
^ The Licensing World ^ January 13tli, 1900. 



534 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

conceived to be may be sliown by two simple illustra- 
tions. On March 9tli, 1900, a Bill forbidding the sale 
of intoxicating liquors to children under the age of 
sixteen passed its second reading in the House of 
Commons. On the following Wednesday (March 14th) 
a meeting of the United Parliamentary Council of 
the Retail Liquor Trade (convened by telegram) was 
held, at which the Bill was warmly discussed, and 
resolutions were unanimously adopted in favour of 
substituting fourteen years as a limit for " on " con- 
sumption, and abolishing all limit in the case of sales 
for ''off" consumption. 

Mr. Charles Walker, Chairman of the Central Board, 
referring to the Bill at the Annual Dinner of the 
Marylebone and Paddington Licensed Victuallers' 
Trade Protection Society on the following evening 
(Thursday, March 15th), said : — 

" At the present time the Trade had to pay increased 
income tax as well as extra duty on beer and spirits, 
but in spite of this the Government which they sup- 
ported and sympathised with had allowed to pass a 
second reading a Bill which was a disgrace to the 
country. ... In the near future there would be a 
Greneral Election, and they would then have to measure 
out their Parliamentary support in accordance with 
the support this Government had granted them. 
That would be the time to show in what way the 
Government had attempted to fulfil their promise, 
and also to ask whether they had been as generous to 
the Trade as the Trade were to them in 1895." ^ 

^ The Licensing Worlds Marcli 17th, 1900. Another repre- 
sentative of the Central Board (Mr. E. Johnson), speaking at 
Kennington on March 21st, said : — " The Central Board were 
alive to the importance of its being rejected, and had done 
and were doing all that was possible to defeat it." 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 535 

A similar pronouncement was made wlien, on March 
Mth, a Bill to extend the "Welsh Sunday Closing Act 
to Monmouthshire (a proposal recommended by both 
sections of the Royal Commission on Liquor Licensing 
Laws) passed its second reading. In a leading article 
published in the Licensmg World, the official Trade 
organ, on the following Saturday (March 17th), it was 
stated that : — 

" This is scarcely the return which the Trade is 
entitled to expect for the great services it rendered 
in helping to place the present x^idministration in 
power." 

The same organ had declared a month earlier (Feb- 
ruary 17th) that, " both as a matter of principle and 
for the sake of our brother traders in Monmouthshire, 
we must see that the voice and the vote of the Trade 
are adequately represented, and that the fight, if it 
comes on, shall result in victory " ; while the Chairman 
of the United Parliamentary Council of the Retail 
Liquor Trade had publicly stated that ^' any further 
limitation of the hours of opening on Sunday the 
Trade will oppose to their utmost." ^ 

But these are not the only proposals for reform that 
have encountered, or are threatened with, the active 
opposition of the Trade. Others, including some 
about which good citizens of all classes may be said 
to be equally agreed, are threatened with the same un- 
compromising hostility. The Chairman of the "West- 
minster and District Licensed Victuallers' Trade 
Protection Association, speaking at the Annual 
G-eneral Meeting of the Association on Friday, 
January 26th, 1900, made several references to the 
recommendations of the Royal Commission. 

^ The Licensmg World, November ISth, 1899. 



536 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

'' He pointed out that in connection witli the recom- 
mendations of tlie Royal Licensing Commission, for 
one tiling, wide discretion was given to magistrates in 
imposing conditions. He need scarcely remark that 
the nnanimons feeling of the Trade on that question 
was that discretion should have no place in the 
licensing courts, except when dealing with the subject 
of a new licence and the personal character of the 
applicant. . . . Any attempt to widen their dis- 
cretion, which would tend to give additional power in 
the question of refusing the renewal or transfer of 
existing licensed premises which had not come within 
the prohibitionary clauses of the Act, should not be 
permitted without a most determined protest from the 
entire Trade." 

In referring to the further recommendation of the 
Commission, that " the licensing authorities should 
have in their own service one or two officers of high 
rank to visit and occasionally report to them upon the 
general condition of licensed premises," he stated that 
" to subject our Trade to any such abominable pro- 
ceedings would be a gross injustice, and one that would 
meet with the united condemnation of our customers 
and ourselves." ^ 

Again, in referring to the proposal made by both 
sections of the Licensing Commission to establish a 
new licensing authority composed of Justices and 
County Councillors properly selected and not consti- 
tuted by the chance attendance of Justices, the 
Licensing World said : — " We have a strong objection 
to the importation of a popularly elected element 
into the constitution of a Licensing Authority." ^ 

^ The Licensing World, February 3rd, 1900. 
2 The Licensing World, February 17th, 1900. 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 537 

A week later (February 24tli, 1900), in defining the 
attitude of the Trade towards the Reports of the Royal 
Commission, the Licensing World stated: — "As we 
have already said, neither report is acceptable to the 
retail Trade, whose statement of policy must be sought 
for only in the reservations signed by Mr. Charles 
Walker and Mr. Samuel Hyslop." 

The Trade attitude was expressed more frankly still 
in a resolution which was unanimously adopted at 
the annual conference of the Beer and Wine Trade 
National Defence League in ShefHeld on March 28th, 
1900. The resolution was as follows : ^ — 

" That this Conference, having considered the 
majority and minority reports of the Royal Commis- 
sion on Liquor Licensing Laws, while appreciating the 
efforts of the Commission to provide the public with 
information as to the working of the present licensing 
system, is of opinion that the evidence given before the 
Commission is not of a character such as would justify 
any drastic alteration of the law ; and further, since 
there exists no demand on the part of the vast majority 
of the public who consume alcoholic liquor, for any 
change in the conditions under which the trade is at 
present conducted, this Conference protests against 
and will use every effort to frustrate any attempt by 
the so-called temperance reformers — mostly non-con- 
sumers — and the prohibitionists, to interfere with the 
existing state of things." 

Finally, the report of the League called upon the 
affihated societies to "do everything in their power 
to increase the number of their members and 
strengthen their organization, so that for political 
and general purposes the League might be in a 
^ Sheffield Independent, March 29th, 1900. 



538 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

position to exert the greatest possible influence on 
all occasions when it might be necessary to defend the 
interests of the Trade." ^ 

These extracts make painful reading, for they are 
additional evidence of the bitter and uncompromising 
determination of a powerful and well-organized trade 
to oppose the most necessary and reasonable reforms. 
But deplorable as such hostility is, it is the natural 
product of the system we have created. So long as 
the publican has an interest in his sales, so long- 
human nature being what it is — is he bound to oppose 
himself to every reform that threatens to diminish 
his sales. The instinct of progress in a community 
is not only challenged at every point by a monopoly 
which the State itself has accidentally created, but is 
reduced to virtual impotence by an invincible desire 
for gain. 

(e) The Tied House System. 

The evils of the present system are still further 
intensified by the Tied House System, to which 
reference has already been made. The mischievous 
features of that system have been so often described 
that they need not be detailed here, but it is im- 
possible to overlook the effect of the system in inten- 
sifying \i\LQ evils of private profit, and so increasing 
the social and political menace. 

Under this system the great liquor " Rings " have 
become gigantic monopolies with well-nigh absolute 
powers — at least so far as their tenants are concerned 
— whose methods, according to the report of a Special 
Committee of the Chester Quarter Sessions, have "a 
direct effect upon the character and conduct " of the 

* Shefiield Independent, March 28th, 1900. 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 539 

'^ tied " houses. ^' Li the case at least of the lower 
public-houses, the publican is driven, by the terms of 
his relation to the brewer, in the matter of the supply 
of liquor, to make a livelihood as best he may, is under 
pressure to sell drink, by legitimate or illegitimate 
means, cannot afford to turn away any customer in 
order to keep his house respectable, but is led to 
admit every one, though already in liquor or dis- 
orderly, or of known bad character. It is clear from 
the whole scope of the Licensing Acts that the main 
object of the Legislature was to secure the responsible 
conduct of a public-house by a person responsible to 
the justices, and to the justices alone. . . . But 
where the Tied House System prevails, the provisions 
of the Licensing Acts relating to the record upon or 
endorsement of the licence are rendered nugatory ; 
the series of clauses relating to repeated convictions 
are set at nought, and these guarantees relied upon by 
the Legislature for the regulation and orderly conduct 
of the licensed houses entirely fail of effect." ^ 

These statements, let it be noted, are not the 
criticisms of Temperance advocates, but are the de- 
liberate and careful pronouncements of responsible 
magistrates possessed of full knowledge of the work- 
ing of licensing law. 

It was this feature of the system which led The 
Times ^ when referring to the matter in 1891, to 
say: ''Some may perhaps think that, in the in- 
terests of the community, complete control of a house 
by a prosperous and respectable brewer is better than 

* Report of the Committee appointed at the Easter Quarter 
Sessions (1891) " to examine into the state and effect of the Laio 
relating to the Licensing of Houses for the Sale of Intoxicating 
Liquors,^^ p. 12. 



540 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

the more or less independent discretion of a needy- 
tradesman. The objection is that the natural ten- 
dency of a brewer is simply to push the sale of his 
beer. Provided no forfeiture of licence be incurred, 
the especial manner in which the business is con- 
ducted does not matter much to him. His main 
desire is that the neighbourhood shall drink as much 
as possible. His servant the publican, who has little 
or no property invested in the premises, has no strong 
personal motive for caution. He wishes to ingratiate 
himself with his employer by promoting a liberal 
consumption. The fear of risking the licence affects 
him far less than if it meant for him positive com- 
mercial ruin. From the point of view even of the 
customers, it has been felt that a spread of the 
monopoly of the brewers is inconvenient. 
Practical experience, at all events, has created a 
keen jealousy of the system of tied houses, and a 
determination to make a stand against its unlimited 
predominance." ^ 

To revert, then, to the point from which we 
started, and to which an examination of the evidence 
has recalled us at every turn, it is the deliberate 
judgment of the present writers, founded upon care- 
ful and exhaustive examination of the facts, that 
complete and satisfactory reform of the liquor traffic 
is impossible so long as it is organized and con- 
ducted from motives of private gain. 

It is unfortunate that, hitherto, in the discussion 
of proposals for taking the trade out of private 
hands, emphasis has been laid upon non-essential 
points, to the neglect of the main principle involved. 
A great principle of practical politics must, however, 
^ Times, September 12t}i, 1891. 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 541 

be judged ^' not by the way in which, men have only 
half applied it, or have applied it amiss, but by its 
value when properly applied and safeguarded." 
Under the present system there exists a monopoly 
trade admittedly dangerous, which it is the interest 
of the State to restrict, but the profits and conduct 
of which are put into the hands of those who have 
every inducement to extend it. '^ Two such powerful 
passions as the lust for money and the craving for 
spirits are allowed so to combine, that the force of 
each is increased to unnatural proportions." 

While it is in the interest of the State that there 
should be a progressive advance in Temperance senti- 
ment and practice, it establishes in each licensed 
house a centre of opposition to such advance. The 
observance of the regulations required for the safe- 
guarding of a dangerous trade is, in practice, left 
in the hands of those who have a direct pecuniary 
interest in evading them. Finally, under the existing 
licensing system, the liquor monopoly has been made 
so powerful that it not only plays an important part 
in determining the results of municipal and political 
elections, but threatens to dominate the British 
Parliament as the slave power dominated the Legis- 
lature of "Washington. 

Surely the evils of intemperance, taken alone, are 
sufficient without adding to them those which are 
the creation of law. 

It is upon these broad and far-reaching consider- 
ations that we desire to concentrate attention. The 
suggestions contained in a particular scheme may, 
or may not, be found defective ; but if the thought 
be once accepted that the trade cannot safely be left 
in private hands, the English people, with their 



542 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

practical sagacity, will not be long in discovering 
a method for carrying it into effect. 

It was of a proposal embodying tbis principle tbat 
Mr. Gladstone wrote, in September of 1894: "In 
principle you are working upon the only lines either 
promising or tenable." 

He added : " I am friendly to Local Option, hut it 
can be no more than a partial arid occasional remedy. ^^ 

Writing later in the same month, he said : — 

" I have in no respect receded from former declar- 
ations as to Local Option. My opinion in its favour 
remains unaltered, but I hope more may be done 
for coping with the frightful evil than Local Option, 
if it stand alone, seems likely to effect." 

On another occasion, speaking in the House of 
Commons, he said : " Why is it that the position 
of the public-houses in this country of ours is 
different from and lower than it is in any country 
in Europe ? That is the result of the management 
which we have followed, and the number [of public- 
houses] does not in the slightest degree tend to 
mitigate that statement. I am one of those who 
see the utmost, incurable, radical, and profound 
mischief from what is called the publican's monopoly, 
and not through any fault of the publican or, indeed, 
of any one. My firm belief is that as long as the 
monopoly connected with private interests belongs to the 
Trade J you will never have true and efficient police super- 
vision exercised over the public-houses, and without 
that they must continue to hold the disparaged and 
unsatisfactory position which they do hold now, and 
have held for many generations." ^ 

^ Speech on the second reading of the Local Taxation 
(Customs and Excise) Duties Bill. May 15th, 1890. Hansard's 
Debates, 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 543 

In 1877, Mr. Chamberlain brought before Parlia- 
ment a resolution affirming it to be "desirable to 
empower the Town Councils of boroughs under the 
Municipal Corporations Acts to acquire compulsorily, 
on payment of fair compensation, the existing in- 
terests in the retail sale of intoxicating drinks within 
their respective districts ; and thereafter, if they see 
fit, to carry on the trade for the convenience of the 
inhabitants, but so that no individual shall have 
any interest in nor derive any profit from the sale." 
In submitting his resolution, Mr. Chamberlain ex- 
plained that the Birmingham Town Council, by a 
majority of forty-six to ten, and the Board of 
Guardians unanimously, had passed resolutions in 
favour of the proposal. The clergy of the city, also, 
with one dissentient, had passed a resolution ap- 
proving the principle of the scheme, while it had 
also been submitted to the Wesleyan ministers of 
the town with a similar result. Moreover, he had 
that day ''presented a petition in its favour from 
the Birmingham branch of the United Kingdom 
Alliance." Mr. Bright, Mr. Samuel Morley, Sir 
Wilfrid Lawson, Sir John Kennaway, Sir Mount- 
stuart Grant-Duff, and Mr. Leonard Courtney were 
among those who voted in favour of the resolution. 

Sir Wilfrid Lawson, while admitting that he could 
not agree with everything in the resolution, never- 
theless asserted that " it would, if passed, be the 
most deadly blow which this generation has seen 
struck at the liquor traffic as it at present exists." 
The present licensing system, he urged, had " failed 
utterly ; and why ? Because every individual trader 
in this business is paid by results. He is paid exactly 
in proportion to the amount of drink which he can 



544 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

get liis fellow-creatures to consume." He added : 
"I support this resolution because, with all its draw- 
backs, it strikes a deadly blow at the present licensing 
system, and because, although that is not its direct 
object, it does place the power of prohibiting the 
liquor traffic in the hands of 200 municipal councils, 
representing 6,000,000 of inhabitants. And, there- 
fore, although I know that many of my best friends 
and supporters will say I am wrong in taking the 
course I propose to do, yet I cannot resist on this 
occasion doing what little there is in my power to 
support an earnest, honest, and able attempt to deal 
with the greatest evil of our day and generation." ^ 

Mr. Chamberlain, as is well known, is as firm a 
believer in the system he then advocated as ever. 
Lord Aberdare, formerly Mr. Bruce, who prepared the 
great Bill of 1871, was a supporter of the principle. 
The same principle forms the basis of the scheme 
advocated by the Bishop of Chester, who has done so 
much to familiarize the public mind with its nature 
and importance. 

But how is the realization of this principle to be 
effected ? Probably the most suggestive experiment 
in this direction is that represented by the Norwegian 
Company system, which has already been described. 
That this system would need modification in any 
attempt to apply it to this country will be apparent 
from what has already been said in criticism of the 
system in the previous chapter, but, in its funda- 
mental principle, it undoubtedly furnishes the most 
valuable practical suggestion for effecting the re- 
form in question. It would therefore seem to be 
important that the first step in the direction of reform 

* Hansard's Debates, vol. 232. 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 545 

should be to confer upon localities the power of grant- 
ing a monopoly of the entire retail traffic within their 
borders either to companies formed for that purpose 
upon which the municipal councils shall be directly 
represented, or, under clearly defined safeguards, to 
the councils themselves. 

The Need for Constructive as well as CoNTROLLiNa 
Eeforms. 

But it is important here to urge — what is too often 
forgotten by those interested in this question — that 
the adoption of the controlling system, while effective 
in withdrawing the traffic from private hands, would 
not, by itself, adequately solve the problem. For what 
is the problem ? Men go to the public-house — young 
men especially — quite as much for social intercourse, 
and for escape from their surroundings, as for drink. 
The love of drink — as the Times pointed out twenty- 
seven years ago ^ — " is a symptom only : it is not the 
disease, and we should be wrong to deal with it as if 
it were. A man drinks, not only because his brute 
nature is strong and craves the stimulus, but because 
he has no other interests, and must do something ; or 
because his home is uncomfortable and his life dull, 
and he needs some real enjoyment ; or because he is 
fond of company, and only wishes to be like the 
rest." 

A writer already quoted,^ in describing the slums of 
Leeds, puts the matter with admirable clearness and 
force. " Most of the men," he says, " have some par- 
ticular public-house to which they go nearly every 
night in the week— it is their sitting-room — their own 

1 October 10th, 1873. 

' D. B, Foster, Leeds Slumdom. 

35 



546 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

home being a sort of kitclien where the servant (the 
wife) does the household drudgery. When tea is over 
the man retires from the kitchen to the sitting-room (as 
men in higher society do) to spend the evening with 
his friends. 

" The publican (whether it be a tied house or his 
own) secures his remuneration for the convenience 
from the profits made on the liquor sold. This being 
well understood, ' the good of the house ' is not easily 
overlooked. ... It cannot be denied that many 
of these men become so fond of the drink for its own 
sake, that this idea of payment for convenience never 
enters their minds. Nevertheless, in the earlier stages 
of their public-house-going, and amongst those who 
have never allowed the drink to get the master over 
them, no doubt this thought is often present, and 
consequently is a force to be reckoned with." 

It is this aspect of the question which gives the 
problem its great urgency, as well as its great diffi- 
culty, in the towns and cities of the United Kingdom. 
To realize it fully, one needs not only an intimate 
acquaintance with present social conditions, but also 
a knowledge of the effect which such conditions un- 
doubtedly have in vitiating the tastes and habits of 
many who suffer from them. 

The moral and social problems are inextricably 
related, and can hardly be separately discussed. We 
are not here concerned to ^'^ the extent of the re- 
lation, but simply to recognise it. Such recognition 
is not difficult when one considers the tyrannous 
sordid circumstances that govern the lives of vast 
numbers of our town populations at the present time. 
For them life is too often a maimed existence, a cruel, 
unceasing struggle for bare subsistence, or at best " a 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 547 

dull monotonous chiaroscuro ^^^ whicli, if not distressing, 
is utterly joyless. It is no wonder if, dulled and half 
stupefied by the close air and ill odours of the slum 
tenement or workshop, they should turn to the beer- 
house or gin-shop for temporary excitement and relief. 
Mr. Eobert Blatchford, author of Merrie England^ 
than whom few have a more intimate knowledge of 
the lives of the poor, has recently summed Lip the 
situation in words which we cannot do better than 
quote. "Imagine," he says, "for a moment the com- 
mon lot of our London poor. Ignorant and untrained 
minds, weary and unhealthy bodies, gloomy and 
demoralizing environment, monotony and weariness 
of life, out of these evils spring the seeds of vice. 
Drudging in their vile stews day after day, night 
after night . . . always with the black future, 
like an ominous cloud, casting its chill shadow on 
their anxious hearts ; always with the mean walls 
hemming them in, and the mean tasks wearing them 
down, and the mean life paralysing their sick souls ; 
with no pleasure but drink, with no club but the 
public-house, with work precarious and wages low, in 
hateful and cheerless surroundings, and with faint 
hopes ever narrowing, the toiling millions bring their 
worn bodies and bewildered souls to fight against the 
devil and all his works — and the devil, amongst other 
weapons, uses gin. Out in the horrible East the 
women drink. "What wonder ! If you go amongst 
these poor women you will feel suddenly stricken old. 
. . . What culture have these poor creatures ever 
known ? What teaching have they had ? What 
graces of life have come to them? What dowry of 
love, of joy, of sweet and fair imagination? Think 
what their lives are, think what their homes are, 



548 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

think of the darkness and confusion of their minds, 
and then say, is it a marvel if they take to gin ? " ^ 

The analysis of the problem in that statement may 
not be quite exhaustive ; there may be, even in the 
lives of the poor, aspects of invincible cheerfulness 
of which it takes no account ; but its general pene- 
trating truthfulness no one with knowledge can 
impugn. 

It will help to a clearer view of this aspect of the 
problem if we consider the actual life circumstances 
of those for whom the public-houses to a large extent 
exist. 

The Peoblem of Poverty. 

We select, first, the problem of poverty. In report- 
ing on the economic condition of the working classes 
in 1885, the Royal Commissioners on Housing say : — 

'' Apart from the demoralizing influence of the 
surroundings in which their lives are passed, it must 
be borne in mind that the work and wages of a large 
proportion of the dwellers in the poorest quarters are 
most precarious, and the uncertainty of their incomes 
is sufficient cause to discourage them from struggling 
after better homes. It has been said of them that 
' they are never a shilling ahead of the world ' ; they 
have just enough to get through the week, and in the 
best of times are sure to be a week in arrear in pur- 
chasing power. . . . Evidence has been given 
to show how uncertain is the employment of the 
majority, how a period of comparative prosperity may 
be followed by a period of enforced idleness, and how 
consequently their existence and subsistence can only 

^ Morning Leader, September 2nd, 1898. 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 549 

be described as from hand to mouth. But even if 
employment were regular, the wages are so low that 
existence must be a struggle at the best of times. 
A large class of persons whose earnings are at the 
lowest point are the costermongers and hawkers, 
whose average appears to be not more than ten or 
twelve shillings a week. This represents continuous 
toil, and although the income is a most precarious one, 
yet it is not rendered so by days and seasons of idle- 
ness, as is the case in occupations about to be men- 
tioned, but it is dependent upon the state of the market. 
. . . The average of labourers' wages among the 
residents in Clerkenwell is said to be about sixteen 
shillings a week, and this, of course, means that there 
are many who earn less. This, also, is about the figure 
at which labour is said to be obtainable at Bristol. 
Sack-making and slop-tailoring are two occupations 
carried on to a great extent in the homes of the poor, 
and they are both remunerated at starvation wages. 
Artizans, of course, command a higher wage, and 
twenty-five shillings a week seems to be an ordinary 
rate for many of that class who inhabit tenement 
houses." 

But these particulars, depressing as they are, give a 
very inadequate idea of the problem. In East London 
alone — as Mr. Charles Booth has shown us — no less 
than 314,175 persons, or 35 per cent, of the total popu- 
lation, belong to families whose weekly earnings 
amount to less than a guinea a week. In the central 
districts of South London, comprising a population of 
390,000, matters are even worse, no less than 47 per 
cent, of the population being below the poverty line. 
In St. Pancras, again, out of a population of 234,379 
persons, 30 per cent, are poor. Further West, in the 



550 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

neighbourhood of Lisson Grove, there are 50,000 per- 
sons, half of whom are poor. 

It will be urged, and rightly, that the appalling 
character of these figures only intensifies the folly and 
wastefulness of excessive indulgence in drink. That 
is a proposition which does not admit of discussion. 
But from" another point of view — the point of view 
of the people themselves — the figures have another 
significance. They show, oppressively and powerfully, 
how inevitably narrow the lives of the people are, and 
how strong must be the craving for expansion and 
excitement. So long as the community in its social 
arrangements refuses to recognise this, so long will 
the public-house continue to exert its baneful and 
demoralizing influence.^ 

The HousiNa of the People. 

A closely related problem is that presented by the 
sanitary and other conditions under which so many 
thousands of the people live. The gravity of this 
jDroblem cannot well be exaggerated. As the Spectator 
recently pointed out ^ : " A large part of the popula- 
tion of London and of all our large cities live in 
dwellings which keep down the level of civilization. 
The conditions of decent and healthy life are not to be 

^ In answer to this line of argument, it is sometimes said, 
" Induce a man to give tip tlie drink, and he will soon better his 
surroundings." This is often true, especially with men of force 
of character ; but how many of the 1,246,615 persons living two 
or more to a room in London are likely, amidst surroundings 
which depress health and weaken the will-power, to give up the 
drink w^hen they are unable to find social enjoj-ment except in 
connection with its sale. 

2 December 10th, 1898. 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 551 

had in them. They are overcrowded, they are under- 
ventilated, they are wanting in the most elementary 
requirements of decent sanitation." 

The terrible truthfulness of these statements it is 
only too easy to show. 

(a) Density of Population. 

A healthy city — according to the late Sir B. W. 
Eichardson — should have a density of population not 
exceeding 25 persons to the acre. What are the actual 
facts ? In 1896 the population of the Administrative 
County of London was 4,433,018, distributed at the 
rate of 59 persons to the acre. These figures, however, 
are deceptive, and give no true idea of the actual 
density of population in the industrial districts of the 
city. In St. George's-in-the-East, with 47,506 inhabi- 
tants, the density of population in 1896 was 199 
persons to the acre ; in Whitechapel (population, 
35,111), 202; in St. George-the-Martyr, Southwark 
(population, 60,278), 212; in St. Anne, Soho (popula- 
tion, 12,048), 227; while in Mile End, New Town 
(population, 12,816), and Christchurch, Spitalfields 
(population, 23,055), the figures reached the almost 
incredible density of 305 and 316 persons to the acre 
respectively. 

In the principal provincial cities, the figures, 
although not equalling those of London, are never- 
theless excessively high. In Manchester, for example, 
while the average density of population is com- 
paratively low, being at the rate of 40 persons 
per acre for the whole of the city, there are districts 
so crowded as almost to rival the central districts of 
London. 



552 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

The following may be taken as illustrations of 
these : — 



Ward. 


Population. 


No. of Persons 




(1891.) 


per acre. 


South Manchester : 






All Saints . . . 


. 23,609 . 


... 104 


Medlock Street . . 


. 32,827 . 


. . . 167 


North Manchester : 






New Cross . . . 


. 45,982 . 


. . . 130 


Harpurhey . . . 


. 37,050 . 


. . . 192 



(b) Overcrowding. 

Even these figures, however, give a very inadequate 
idea of the evil. A much clearer view is presented in 
the statistics of overcrowding. In order to understand 
these, let us once more start with a standard. The 
late Professor Huxley, in describing the conditions of 
health, laid down the principle that "to be supplied 
with respiratory air in a fair state of purity, every 
man ought to have at least 800 cubic feet of space 
to himself." This amount of space — the minimum 
required for health — would represent for each person a 
room ten feet by ten feet and eight feet high.^ Now 
with this standard in our minds let us examine the 
actual figures. 

In 1891 there were in England and "Wales no fewer 
than 3,258,044 persons, forming 11*23 per cent, of the 
entire population, living under crowded conditions, 
i e. in tenements containing more than two persons per 
room, 

^ In the poorer parts of London, according to Mr. Charles 
Booth, the rooms range in size from fourteen feet by twelve 
feet to eight feet by eight feet, the height from floor to ceiling 
varying from eight to ten feet. 



PLATE XXVI . 

DIAaRAM 

Showing the Density of Population in certain London parishes, 
as compared with Sir B. W. Richardson's standard for a 
healthy city. 




SIR B. W. RICHARDSON. 
25 persons to the acre. 




ST. GEORGE'S-IN-THE-EAST and WHITECHAPEL. 
Total population, 82,617. 200 persons to the acre. 

[56 lines.) 




ST. GEORGE THE MARTYR, SOUTHWARK, and ST. ANNE, SOHO. 
Total population, 180,326. 215 persons to the acre. 

(60 lines.] 




MILE END, NEW TOWN, and CHRIST CHURCH, SPITALFIELDS. 
Total population, 35,871. 312 persons to the acre. 

[87 lines.) 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 553 

Of these overcrowded persons : — 

357,707 lived in one-room tenements. 



,124,056 


V 


„ two „ 


n 


951,877 


5) 


,, three ,, 


V 


824,404 


)7 


„ four „ 


5? 



If we turn to London, the figures are very much 
worse. The total number of tenements ^ of all kinds 
in London in 1891 was 937,606, of which 172,502, or 
18 per cent., were one-room, tenements ; 189,707, or 
20 per cent., fwo-rooTci tenements ; 153,189, or 16 per 
cent., three-room tenements; and 115,171, or 12 per 
cent., four-room tenements. In other words, more 
than two-thirds of the tenements in London consist 
of from one to four rooms only. 

It is almost impossible to realize the terrible import 
of these figures. To deal with one-room tenements 
only, the figures show that 07ie in every eleven of the 
population in London is either a solitary occupant of 
a one-room tenement, or a member of a family which 
has but one room for all the purposes of life. In that 
one room the entire family — father, mother, sons, and 
daughters — has to sleep, wash, dress, cook, and eat its 
meals, and find its social life. The room, in short, in 
sickness as in health, has to be bedroom, kitchen, 
sitting-room, and — in thousands of cases — workroom 
combined.^ 

* By a " tenement " is to be understood any house or part 
of a house separately occupied either by the owner or hy a 
tenant. 

^ The following instances of overcrowding — hj no means 
exceptional — were reported at a recent meeting of the London 
County Council. In St. George's-in-the-East a man and his 
wife and their family of eight occupied one small room. This 
family consisted of five daughters, aged twenty, seventeen, 



554 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

The thouglit is appalling ; but it does not cover the 
facts. The statement is far from complete. The 
proportion of one-room tenements, although an im- 
portant test of overcrowding, is not an exhaustive 
one, inasmuch as many of the occupants of two, three, 
and even four-room tenements live under crowded 
conditions. "While, for example, 386,489 persons, or 
9 per cent, of the total population of London, lived in 
one-room tenements in 1891, more than 830,000 per- 
sons, or 20 per cent, of the population, lived under 
crowded conditions (i.e., more than two persons to a 
room). 

The actual conditions that prevail can be more 
readily seen from the following table, which includes 
tenements containing two persons and upwards to a 
room. The total number of persons living in such 
tenements was 1,246,615, of whom: — 

762,417 lived two and under three persons to a room. 
298,994 „ three „ four 

114,714 „ four „ fiYQ 

43,443 „ five „ six 

while 27,047 lived in tenements containing from six to 
twelve persons to a room. 

If we turn to the provinces, a very similar con- 
dition of things appears. The following table gives 

eight, four, and an infant, and three sons, aged fifteen, thirteen, 
and twelve. In Whitechapel a man and his wife and their 
three daughters, aged sixteen, eight, and four, and two sons, 
aged ten and twelve years, occuiDied a smaller room. In Bethnal 
Green a man and his wife, with four sons, aged twenty-three, 
twenty-one, nineteen, and sixteen years, and two daughters, 
aged fourteen and seven respectively, were also found in one 
room. — Daily News, January 18th, 1899. 



V 


T) 


V 


)1 


?5 


V 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 555 

particulars of overcrowding in several provincial 
towns : — 



Town. 


No, of Persons 
living more 
than Two 
to a room. 


Proportion 

of Total 

Population. 

Per cent. 


G-atesliead . . . 


. 34,943 . 


. 41 


Newcastle-on-Tyne 


. 65,347 . 


. 35 


Sunderland . . . 


. 43,038 . 


. 33 


Plymouth. . . . 


. 22,128 . 


. 26 


Halifax .... 


. 19,147 . 


. 21 


Bradford .... 


. 44,598 . 


. 21 



If we include the larger cities, the numbers are 
considerably increased. In Birmingham no fewer 
than 68,221 persons live in tenements containing 
more than two persons to a room ; in Leeds, 60,482 ; 
in Liverpool, 56,765 ; in Manchester, 41,718 ; and in 
Sheffield, 37,552. 

The ErFEOTS of OvEECKOWDiNa. 

The physical and moral effects of such overcrowding 
can be better imagined than described, but we have a 
few broad clues to guide us. 

Professor Huxley, in describing the physical results 
of breathing impure air, said : " In the case of breath- 
ing the same air over and over again, the deprivation 
of oxygen and the accumulation of carbonic acid 
cause injury long before the asphyxiating point is 
reached. ... It need hardly be said that the 
persistent breathing of such air tends to lower all 
kinds of vital energy and predisposes to diseases." If 
there were any disposition to doubt this statement, a 
moment's analysis of the death rates in crowded 
districts would effectually dispel it. 

The ''corrected" death rate of Hampstead (a wealthy 
suburban district) for the ten years 1886-1805, was 



556 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

14*3 per 1,000 ; for LewisHam (also a suburban dis- 
trict), 15-4; and for St. George's, Hanover Square (a 
wealthy West End parish), 18'1. The death rate for 
St. George-the-Martyr, Southwark, for the same 
period, was 28*5 ; for St. George's-in-the-East, 29-9 ; 
and for the Strand division (including Soho), 30'0. 
In the provinces the figures are much the same. 
Taking the same period {i.e. 1886-95) the death rate 
in Leeds was 23-5; Sheffield, 24-0; Salford, 28-0; 
Liverpool, 28.5 ; and Manchester, 29'0. In his " Re- 
port on the Health of Greater Manchester," in the 
years 1891-93, Dr. Tatham says : " We are almost 
forced to the conclusion that in Manchester men grow 
old sooner than in the country as a whole. The 
vitality of men at fifty-seven in Manchester is about 
equal to that of men at sixty-five in England ; and 
the expectation of life at fifty-eight-and-a-half in 
Manchester is equal to that of men at sixty-five in 
England." That a part, and perhaps a great part, of 
the excess of mortality which the figures for Man- 
chester show, is inseparable from life and work in a 
great manufacturing town. Dr. Tatham admits to be 
" possible and even probable." But to discuss that 
is to open up a question with which we at present are 
not concerned. Our immediate purpose is simply to 
illustrate the depressing and demoralizing conditions 
under which the people who crowd the public-houses 
live. 

In referring to this aspect of the problem, the Royal 
Commissioners on Housing (1885) say : — 

' ' In considering what are the efiects moral and 
material of the present conditions of the housing of 
the working classes, especially in the Metropolis, it 
will be convenient still to deal with overcrowding as 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 557 

a centre evil around whicli most of the others group 
themselves. ... If there has been some attempt 
to throw doubt on overcrowding and the single-room 
system being the immediate cause of immorality, no 
one has ventured to express an opinion that they are 
not most destructive to bodily health. . . . Even 
statistics of actual disease consequent on overcrowding 
would not convey the whole truth as to the loss to 
health caused by it to the labouring classes. Some 
years ago the Board of Health instituted inquiries in 
the low neighbourhoods to see what was the amount 
of labour lost in the year, not by illness, but from 
sheer exhaustion and inability to do work. It was 
found that upon the lowest average every workman 
or workwoman lost about twenty days in the year 
from simple exhaustion, and the wages thus lost would 
go towards paying an increased rent for a better 
house. There can be little doubt but that the same 
thing is going on now, perhaps even to a greater ex- 
tent. That overcrowding lowers the general standard, 
that the people get depressed and weary, is the testi- 
mony of those who are daily witnesses of the lives of 
the poor." 

It is for these '^ depressed " and " weary " ones that 
what Lord Randolph Churchill called the '' fatal 
facility of the public-house" is so perilously attractive, 
since it appears to offer them the easiest way of 
escape from the oppressive circumstances of their 
lives.^ 

* For a statement of tlie relation of overcrowding to intem- 
perance, see Appendix, p. 738. In this connection it is interest- 
ing to note that at the Seventh International Temperance 
Congress, held in Paris in April, 1899, one of the items on 
the agenda was " Tenements for Workmen, and their Influence 
on Habitual Inebriety." 



558 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

Conditions of Employment. 

But the problem lias not yet been fully stated. To 
understand the measure of the appeal which the 
public-house makes to the indtistrial classes it is neces- 
sary to realize not only the conditions under which 
the people live^ but also those under which they work. 

That the conditions of labour have been made less 
arduous in recent years is happily indisputable. But 
when all changes and improvements have been 
allowed for, the fact remains that the conditions of 
labour are still extremely irksome, and often painfully 
exacting. The introduction of the factory system and 
the more extensive use of machinery, while they have 
lessened the physical burden of work, have added to it 
a nervous tension and an extreme monotony which 
are not only harmful to health, but in some cases so 
depressing as to be positively destructive of mental 
development. If to these conditions be added the 
incessant noise and whirr of the machinery, the 
noxious heat and dust-laden air of the workshops and 
factories, and the close and continuous confinement, 
the attractiveness of the public-house in the hours of 
relaxation can easily be realized. 

(a) Mortality Statistics. 

Some idea of the effect of these conditions upon the 
workers may be gathered from the mortality statistics 
for various industries. Speaking generally, the mor- 
tality of occupied males in industrial districts exceeds 
by one-third the average for all occupied males at the 
age-groups 45-55, and 55-65.^ 

^ Supplement to the bbth Annual Report of the Registrar- 
General for England and Wales. 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 559 

The average mortality of textile workers at the ages 
15-20 is 33 per cent, above the standard for all occu- 
pied males, and 11 per cent, above the standard at 
ages between 25 and 65. Among metal workers, of 
whom there were nearly three-quarters of a million 
above the age of 15 in England and Wales in 1891, the 
comparative mortality figure at ages 25-65 is higher 
than the standard by 18 per cent. Among general 
labourers in industrial districts the comparative 
mortality figure exceeds the standard for all occupied 
males by 58 per cent. ; while among potters and 
earthenware workers it exceeds the standard by no 
less than 79 per cent. 

(b) Eelation of Employment^ etc^ to Drink. 

That conditions which are so fatal to the physical 
well-being of the workers must also play an important 
part in their demoralization will be too apparent to 
need much illustration, but a not unimportant clue to 
the relation which such conditions bear to drink is 
afforded by the statistics of deaths from alcoholism. 

The following table ^ gives the particulars of mor- 
tality from alcoholism in a simple comparative form. 
The mortality of all occupied males has been expressed 
as 100, and the mortality in each of the separate 
classes compared has been reduced to a figure propor- 
tional to that standard : — 

Deaths from Alcoholism. 
Eatio. 

All Occupied Males (England and Wales) . . 100 

Occupied Males, Agricultural Districts ... 54 

„ ,, London 138 

„ ,, Industrial Districts .... 146 

^ Compiled from the Supplement to the both Annual Report 
of the Registrar-General. 



56o THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

It tlius appears that the mortality from alcoholism 
is nearly 50 per cent, higher in the industrial districts 
than the average for the kingdom generally, and 170 
per cent, higher than the average for the agricultural 
districts. 



THE NEED FOR RECREATION. 

Now it would be idle to suppose that the problem 
which the foregoing facts and figures unitedly repre- 
sent could be effectually solved by any scheme of 
temperance reform. That is not here suggested. But 
it cannot be doubted that a scheme of reform which 
frankly recognised the existence of these conditions, 
and sought to counteract their demoralizing influence 
by providing new opportunities of healthful recreation 
— cheerful, joyous, attractive — would do much to 
hasten the solution of the problem. In any case these 
facts and figures have a serious and urgent import- 
ance for the temperance reformer. They show how 
natural is the mental recoil of the people from the 
irksomeness and sordidness of their daily lives ; how 
insistent must be the appeal of their natures for re- 
laxation and change, and how almost irresistible, in the 
absence of other adequate arrangements for their 
recreation, must be the meretricious attractions of the 
public-house. It is this aspect of the question that 
appeals so strongly to those who have intimate know- 
ledge of the lives of the poor. They see that at bottom 
the Temperance question is largely ''an entertainment 
of the people " question, and that, as things are now, 
the publican finds his great opportunity in a serious 
deficiency in our public arrangements for the pleasures 
and recreations of the people. In a recently published 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 561 

article on " Settlements and Recreations," the late 
Secretary of the Mansfield House Settlement, Canning 
Town, has put the matter so clearly that we venture 
to quote at some length. After a brief reference to 
the " homes " of the people in East and South London, 
the writer proceeds : — 

" So much for a bare suggestion of the conditions, 
wonderfully different from those of most of the readers 
of this book. But is human nature in Deptford, 
Bermondsey, or Bethnal Green as strikingly differ- 
ent from that in Hampstead, Kensington, or Clapham ? 
Not at all. Li all, man is a social being, desiring 
converse with his fellows ; in all, his constitution 
demands the alternation of work and play, of strain 
and relaxation, of expenditure of effort and renewal 
of power — in a word, that continual recreation that is 
necessary to restore the elasticity of life. The differ- 
ence is not in the need, but in the means of satisfying 
it. 

" How, for instance, can a man invite a few of his 
' pals ' to spend a social evening at his house, when he 
has no house but a tenement that will not hold him- 
self, his 'missus' and the 'kids,' without grave dis- 
comfort, and the one room must often serve as kitchen, 
wash-house, sitting-room, nursery, and bedroom, if not 
workroom as well? Even with the better-off, who 
have three whole rooms to themselves, the sitting- 
room is much too small for anything like social pur- 
poses. It is wonderful what a steady man and a clever 
managing wife can do with such places, but there are 
limits the best can never pass, and we have to deal in 
these matters with the great mass, who cannot rise 
superior to their upbringing and surroundings. 

" Now contrast this, not with any kind of mansion, 

36 



562 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

but with the suburban villa, where a snug meal waits 
the home-coming of the city man ; and the children, 
after their welcome kiss, are packed off to bed or play- 
room ; where pictures are on the walls and books on 
the shelves ; where arm-chair and slippers are ready 
for the tired back and feet, with innumerable little 
luxuries that are taken as a matter of course ; where 
half a dozen friends can come in for a smoke and chat, 
or the piano is ready in the drawing-room for a 
musical evening ; where there is perhaps a bit of 
garden at the back, or a glass-house in which to spend 
spare hours in the summer. 

" All these things are recreative^ and are taken 
without thought of extravagance. If they do not 
minister to your life, why do you have them ? If they 
do, if without them you would lose your force, become 
worn out, what of those who are compelled to go with- 
out ? As a matter of fact, there are in poorer London 
any number of places where men may meet with their 
fellows, in good light, genial warmth, and with elbow 
room; places that are attractive by their superior 
size, their striking decorations, and the strong glare 
that is thrown by their windows and outside lamps 
across the dull and murky street. But there are draw- 
backs to these places. They are called public-houses, 
gin-palaces, beer-shops, and a man who frequents 
them overmuch gets a light pocket, a heavy head, and 
a damaged character. I do not want to lay stress on 
the bad side of these places ; we are all sufficiently 
familiar with that. "What I do wish to emphasize is 
the point that with all their faults they fulfil a most 
necessary function in social life, and that the only 
genuine reform must take heed of this. . . . The 
places of intercourse are of prime importance ; and the 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 563 

problem is to provide such as will be free from the 
noxious action of intoxicants, and at the same time 
will afford the discipline of character that is necessary 
to all permanent reform." ^ 

There are, it is true, many places of amusement in 
East and South London, as well as in the principal pro- 
vincial cities, but these are chiefly music-halls, where 
the entertainment, although far less vicious than is 
commonly supposed, is too seldom of the kind that is 
really needed for the recreation of the people. The 
true criticism of these places is not that they are 
vicious — in that respect the End-End music-halls 
certainly compare most favourably with similar halls 
in the "West— but that they are deficient in healthy 
stimulus, and are too often connected with a public- 
house, or have drink within their own precincts. But 
" apart from all question of these places and their 
control, there is evidently a big field for the provision 
of good, clean and easily accessible entertainment, 
both to lighten the lives of those who do not care to 
frequent the ordinary music-hall, and to win away as 
many as possible from the opposing delights of the 
drinking-shops. . . . Pictures, books, good music, 
clear laughter, heart fellowship — are not these true 
aids to life? Is it not worth while to bring them 
within reach of the docker, the coal-heaver, the 
artisan and the common labourer ; nay, right down 
into the ' doss-house,' where the broken ones of society 
get their precarious lodging night by night ? For 
never will the evil spirits be permanently cast out 
until the empty house is tenanted by such as these ; 
no reform was ever achieved by mere destruction and 
prohibition ; the hovel must be replaced by a healthy 

^ Eeason, University and Social Settlements^ PP. Ti-5. 



564 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

home ; the ' boozing-shop ' by a centre of true fellow- 
ship; mischievous books by clean literature; coarse 
ribaldry by pure fun." ^ 

It is not, of course, suggested that adequate arrange- 
ments of the kind here contemplated would instantly 
and entirely solve the problem of intemperance. 
What is suggested is that their influence would go far 
towards solving the problem by attacking it at one of 
its primary sources. As Mr. John Burns, M.P., has 
admirably put it : '^ Anything that will give work- 
ing people more pleasure will help in the way of 
temperance. Let those who want to make the people 
more temperate provide games and libraries and oppor- 
tunities for social enjoyment. Give them pleasures, 
and they will not seek the public-house." 

The discovery is not a new one. The need has been 
emphasized again and again in the course of the last 
sixty years. So far back as 1834 a Select Committee 
of the House of Commons, in reporting on the 
"Causes and Consequences of Intoxication among 
the Labouring Classes," recommended, among other 
things, ''The establishment, by the joint aid of the 
Grovernment and the local authorities and residents on 
the spot, of public walks and gardens, or open spaces 
for athletic and healthy exercises in the open air, in 
the immediate vicinity of every town, of an extent 
and character adapted to its population ; and of district 
and parish libraries, museums and reading-rooms, 
accessible at the lowest rate of charge, so as to admit 
of one or the other being visited in any weather and 
at any time ; with the rigid exclusion of all intoxi- 
cating drinks of every kind from all such places, 
whether in the open air or closed." 

^ Reason, University and Social Settlements, pp. 74-5. 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 565 

Twenty years later — in 1854 — another Select Com- 
mittee of tlie House of Commons reported : — 

" You7' Committee are fully impressed with the import- 
ance of as far as possible dissociating places of public 
entertainment from the sale of intoxicating drlnJcs. 
Dramatic and musical performances have a tendency, 
under strict censorship, to raise the character of the 
people, and there is evidence of a growing taste for 
such entertainments amongst the working classes, and 
which it appears to your Committee may be made to 
serve as a powerful counter-attraction to the public- 
house. 

"Your Committee have been impressed with the 
good effects of the Saturday evening concerts, such as 
take place at the Lord Nelson Street Rooms, Liverpool, 
which, on all occasions, are presided over by some 
person of note or respectability ; and they are satisfied 
that were the example followed, and the means pro- 
vided independent of public-houses, for the working- 
classes to gratify their taste, especially for music, the 
result would be a diminution of intemperance and 
the refinement of the popular taste." 

Six years later still, the Royal Commissioners 
appointed to inquire into the sale of Exciseable 
Liquors in Scotland, in discussing the causes of "a 
marked improvement in the habits of the people of 
Scotland in regard to sobriety," declared that "The 
spread of education and the extension of a cheap 
literature adapted to the wants and requirements of 
the people, aided by the establishment of lectures, 
reading-rooms and schemes of rational recreation, 
have done much to withdraw the operatives from the 
public-house." 

Nineteen years later — in 1879 — a Select Committee 



566 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

of tlie House of Lords made a still further reference to 
the subject. In discussing the question of " Counter- 
Attractions " the Committee report :— - 

" The Committee have observed with great satisfac- 
tion the efforts which are being made in many parts 
of the country, and especially in London, Liverpool 
and the larger towns, to provide, on a scale far more 
extensive^ and in a form much more attractive than 
hitherto^ for the physical refreshment and rational 
recreation of the working classes. . . . These 
experiments are too recent, and, in spite of their rapid 
increase, too partial and limited, to enable the Com- 
mittee to pronounce with confidence on their ultimate 
success, or on the extent of the influence they may 
exercise in diminishing intemperance ; but they desire 
to express their strong opinion that, if generally prose- 
cuted and conducted with due regard for the wants 
and comforts of a population among whom education 
is gradually diffusing a taste for enjoyments far less 
coarse and gross than in the past, they are destined to 
have an important influence for good. It is obvious 
that the desire for recreation is felt by all classes alike ; 
it cannot but be strong among those whose life is one 
of continual labour; and it is of the highest social 
advantage that such recreation should be of an 
innocent and refining character, free from the tempta- 
tions with which it has hitherto been accompanied, 
and which such vast numbers are unable to resist." 

This repeated emphasis of a great social deficiency 
by a succession of Parliamentary Commissions since 
1834 is especially impressive in the light of existing 
needs. That it has not been altogether unfruitful the 
varied social activities of the present time sufficiently 
attest. In the multiplication of mechanics' institutes, 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 567 

polytechnics, art galleries, and museums, and public 
parks and libraries, there is important evidence of the 
great advance in social activity that has marked the 
last fifty years. The educational and moral value of 
the work done by these agencies cannot well be exag- 
gerated ; but apart from the fact that the most 
important of them aim at the education rather than 
the recreation of the people — a consideration of especial 
importance in London and the larger cities — it must 
be admitted that in their utmost achievement they 
still leave a serious deficiency in our social life. The 
real need to be met is indeed beyond their scope. 

The existence of this deficiency in oar social 
arrangements is, of course, as natural as, under 
present conditions, it must be held to be inevitable. 
It is due to simple historical causes, the chief of which 
has been the unprecedented growth and development 
of our modern towns and cities. No one who considers 
for a moment what this growth and development 
have been will be at a loss to understand the natural- 
ness, as well as the extent, of the deficiency to which 
we have referred. The population of London, for 
example, has increased in fifty years by no less than 
117 per cent. ; the population of Liverpool, by 81 per 
cent. ; Manchester, by 97 per cent. ; Leeds, by 141 per 
cent. ; Birmingham, 153 per cent. ; Sheffield, 192 per 
cent. ; Bradford, 198 per cent. ; Burnley, 355 per cent. ; 
Croydon, 516 per cent. ; Birkenhead, 732 per cent. ; 
while the population of Cardiff and "West Ham have 
increased by no less than 1,027 per cent, and 1,509 
per cent, respectively. 

It is almost impossible to realize the full significance 
of these figures and the revolution which they mark 
in the social life of the people. One thing, however. 



568 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

they serve to establish, and that is the practical 
inevitableness of the present deficiency in our public 
arrangements for the recreations and pleasures of the 
people. It was hardly possible, the growth of urban 
populations being what it has been, that social 
arrangements could keep pace with the need, nor — 
let it be frankly recognised — is there any hope that 
the need can be overtaken through the ordinary 
channels in the immediate or near future. Local 
communities, already heavily burdened with ordinary 
municipal charges, are not likely to be willing to 
further burden themselves with the enormous ad- 
ditional exxDonse which an adequate provision for the 
recreations of the people would involve. Nor can we 
look with greater hopefulness to the resources of 
private philanthropy. Those resources, happil}^, are 
far from being exhausted at the present time, but 
they are not inexhaustible, and even at the most 
sanguine estimate they fall immeasurably short of 
the full extent of the work that waits to be done. 
Here and there, doubtless, wealthy corporations, or 
even private individuals, may do for separate localities 
what the Goldsmiths' Company has done for New 
Cross, and the Drapers' Company for Mile End. But 
the number of these is limited, and there is no 
reasonable ground for hope that their utmost gener- 
osity could meet more than a very small part of the 
need in the country as a whole. So far from this 
being the case, experience has shown that the multi- 
tudinous work that has been initiated and maintained 
by ordinary philanthropic enterprise has been per- 
sistently hampered and restricted by the want of 
adequate funds for its support. Mechanics' Institutes, 
University and Social Settlements, and the manifold 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 569 

recreative agencies of the Cliristian Churches, excellent 
as their work is, are all illustrations of this fact. For 
all such voluntary agencies, as every one who has 
been associated with them knows, there are well- 
defined limits beyond which development is im- 
possible. 

It was probably the perception of this fact that 
led the Bishop of Chester, who, more than most, 
has realized that the public-house question is an 
''entertainment of the people question," to include 
provision for recreation and amusement in his scheme 
of Public-house Eeform. In his letter to The Times 
in August, 1892, the Bishop pointed out that ordinary 
proposals for Temperance reform " fail on the con- 
structive side. Their aim is to restrict, or even to 
abolish, the sale of alcoholic beverages. They do not 
contemplate the counter-provision of such houses of 
refreshment as may wholesomely meet, and, while 
meeting, cultivate and refine, the established needs 
and tastes of the people. And yet in such a climate 
as this, and with the hours of labour shortening and 
the hours of leisure lengthening, the demand for 
such entertainment cannot wisely be ignored or dis- 
countenanced. ... I would, therefore, submit 
that the reformation so undoubtedly and imperatively 
demanded mu.st, to be really efiective, take the shape 
of a complete reconstruction of our existing public- 
house system. Licensed victualling must change 
hands. Experience has abundantly shown that 
private enterprise cannot bear the weight of this vast 
national responsibility. The State, through its local 
authorities and instrumentalities, must with a firm 
and liberal hand undertake the provision of houses of 
refreshment for the people, in which alcoholic bever- 



570 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

ages, though frankly recognised, will be deposed from 
their aggressive supremacy and supplied under less 
seductive conditions. These conditions would, for 
example, be comfortable, spacious, well-ventilated 
accommodation ; temperance drinks of every kind 
brought well to the front, invested with prestige and 
supplied in the most convenient, attractive, and in- 
expensive way ; the pecuniary interest of the managers 
[e.g. in the form of bonus) made to depend entirely on 
the sale of eatables and non-alcoholic beverages ; 
alcoholic liquors secured against adulteration ; news- 
papers, indoor games, and, where practicable, outdoor 
games and music provided ; while the mere drink-shop, 
the gin-palace, and 'the bar' — that pernicious in- 
centive to drinking for drinking's sake — would be 
utterly abolished." 

Let us try to realize what this proposal means. Put 
briefly — we quote the words of an official manifesto 
issued by the Public-house Reform Association in 
1895 — it "goes frankly upon the assumption that the 
public-house of entertainment is necessary for the com- 
fort, recreation, and social intercourse of the people ; 
and that reform rather than abolition must be the aim 
of a sound Temperance policy." The suggestion, in 
short, is to substitute a reformed picUk-house for the 
present gin-palace. The frequenters of the old houses 
would, therefore, constitute a large portion of the 
customers of the new, and would continue in the new 
houses to take substantially the same drinks that they 
had been accustomed to take in the old. The man 
who had taken spirits would, as a rule, continue to 
take spirits, and the man who was accustomed to beer 
would, as a rule, continue to take beer. Whatever 
place the temperance drinks and other refreshments 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 571 

might occupy, and whatever was the reduction of sale 
of liquor attendant upon the effort of the salesman to 
sell as little, instead of as much as possible, the con- 
sumption of intoxicants would still remain the 
dominating and prevailing feature of the new houses, 
and it is to these places, which must for many years 
be largely "drink-shops," that people are to be 
attracted by music, newspapers and games. 

With the main principle that underlies the Bishop 
of Chester's proposals — namely, the elimination of 
private profit — there can be nothing but cordial 
agreement, and certainly no one in England has done 
more to point out its supreme importance and value. 
But this particular proposal for associating amusement 
and recreation with the sale of intoxicants is not 
only opposed to the express recommendations of the 
Parliamentary Committees already quoted, ^ but is 
clearly prejudicial to the best interests of the com- 
munity, and calculated to hinder, rather than to 
facilitate, the object it seeks to attain. Its importance 
can be illustrated by a single consideration. Practically 
all disinterested citizens are agreed that the consump- 
tion of intoxicants in the United Kingdom is at 
present so excessive as to be dangerous to morality, 
prosperity and health. Temperance workers, realizing 
this, and knowing how hard it is to break an estab- 
lished habit, have tried to save the children from 
acquiring the habit of drinking. It is stated that in 
1897 the Bands of Hope and other juvenile Temper- 
ance associations in the United Kingdom had a total 
membership of nearly three millions (2,800,000), and 
that in addition to the ordinary work done by these 
societies, lectures on the subject of Temperance were 

' See pp. 564-5GG. 



572 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

delivered to no less tlian 403,320 cliildren in public 
elementary schools. ^ Do we want tliese boys and 
girls when they leave school, with no acquired fond- 
ness for drink, and the young men and women in 
shops and factories, to be attracted by " comfortable, 
spacious, well- ventilated " rooms, in which games, 
music and newspapers are directly associated with 
the sale and consumption of intoxicants ? Do we not 
rather want, by a strong and decided change in our 
national arrangements, to break the continuity of the 
drinking habit, and so reduce to reasonable limits our 
present stupendous consumption of alcohol ? If we do 
wish this, what could be more ill-judged than deliber- 
ately to attract young men and women to places 
where, in seeking recreation, they will perpetually 
have before them an example which we desire they 
should not imitate ? 

The Bishop justly points, in support of his major 
propositions, to the example of Sweden and Norway. 
But in neither country is there any attempt to attract 
people to the public-house. In the Bergen bars, as 
we have lately shown, seats even are not provided, 
nor are customers permitted to loiter on the premises. 

A PRACTICAL SUGGESTION. 

If we start from the position that we want to 
attract the young aicay from places where intoxicants 
are sold, rather than attract them to such places, the 
alternative policy to that suggested by the Bishop of 
Chester is not far to seek. 

The first practical step in the direction of reform 
is, as we have already shown, to confer upon localities 

^ National Temperance League's Annual^ 1898, pp. 55, 56. 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 573 

the power of granting a monopoly of the entire retail 
traffic within their borders, either to companies formed 
for that purpose, upon which the municipal councils 
shall be directly represented, or, under important 
safeguards, to the councils themselves. The second 
step, and that upon which we would now lay special 
emphasis, is to establish and maintain out of the profits 
of the traffic efficient and attractive social institutes 
or '' People's Palaces," in which full and even elaborate 
provision could be made for the most varied forms 
of healthful recreation, but in which no intoxicants 
would be sold. The attractions which we dread 
for the public-house should there be freely supplied, 
and the utmost enlightened effort be concentrated 
in an endeavour to meet the true recreative needs 
of the people. Parks and open spaces are invaluable 
in the warm summer evenings, but the peculiarities 
of the English climate seriously detract from their 
usefulness at other times, and make them practically 
unavailable as places of popular recreation for more 
than four or five months in the year. "What are 
wanted are "winter parks" in the form of People's 
Palaces, in which rational recreation could be com- 
bined with full opportunity for cheerful intercourse 
and healthy mental stimulus. 

In these People's Palaces the needs and tastes of 
all sections of the local communities should, as far as 
possible, be consulted, and while ample provision 
would be made for recreations of the simplest and 
least exacting kind, such as would specially appeal to 
those to whom the stress of their daily lives leaves 
little inclination for an^^thing more than physical 
relaxation and cheerful intercourse, careful attention 
would be paid to the more complex needs of the less 



574 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

pliysically enervated and the young. The entire 
scheme of work, in short, would be made subsidiary 
to the highest interests of the individual and the 
loftiest aims of the State. 

(a) Recreative Features. 

The purely recreative features would include winter 
gardens for free promenade and music ; indoor concerts 
and entertainments ; rooms for games, reading, etc. 
The appeal which such agencies would make to large 
numbers of the workers in our overcrowded towns 
and cities is no longer matter of conjecture. The 
experience of Social Settlements, ''People's Drawing- 
Rooms," the Social Institutes' Union, and separate 
institutions such as the People's Palace in East 
London, has shown how great is the response to 
work in this direction. One of the present writers 
has vivid reminiscences of visits paid at different 
times to the People's Palace in East London, and of 
one visit especially on a recent Bank-holiday, when 
the whole of the spacious buildings seemed alive 
with eager and glad-hearted east-enders. In one 
part of the buildings a large hall temporarily de- 
voted to an exhibition of local handicrafts and indus- 
tries was filled with interested sightseers, while at 
the same time — the visit was made about mid-day — 
the large Queen's Hall, capable of seating 2,500 
persons, was crowded with working men and their 
wives and families, eagerly listening to a simple con- 
cert given by a band of Tyrolese musicians and 
singers. The entire scene was an impressive reminder 
of the almost immeasurable possibilities that lie in the 
direction of enlightened attempts to organize the 
recreations of the people. 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 575 

An equally suggestive illustration is that furnished 
by the People's Palace at Glasgow — a combination 
of Art Gallery, Concert Hall and "Winter Gardens 
— established and maintained by the Corporation of 
the city for the benefit of those living in the most 
crowded parts of Glasgow. The building is situate in 
the extreme east-end of the city, where the residents 
are chiefly composed of the working classes. The 
idea of the building grew out of the experience of the 
Corporation in other less ambitious attempts to solve 
the problem of winter recreation for the people. Im- 
pressed by the great success of the Winter Gardens 
at Kibble Palace ^ and its adjuncts, as well as of the 
conservatories at Camphill, ^ the Corporation decided 
to offer similar facilities for recreation to the inhabi- 
tants of the more crowded parts of the city, supple- 
menting the Winter Gardens, however, with ample 
provision for music, arts and crafts exhibitions, 
museum, etc. In describing the objects of the in- 
stitution at the public opening in January, 1898, 
Bailie Bilsland, the convener of the Corporation com- 
mittee, said : " The precise lines along which the 
People's Palace shall be developed and maintained in 
the future have not as yet been finally laid down. 
The general idea is that the permanent collection to 
be formed should relate to the history and industries 
of the city, and that some space should be set apart 
for special sectional exhibitions to be held from time 
to time, in connection with which prizes might be 
awarded for works of special excellence. While pri- 

^ Kibble Place is situate in the extreme icest-end of 
Glasgow. 

^ Camphill is situate on the south side of the river near 
Queen's Park. 



576 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

marily serving as a conservatory and a place of 
attraction during tlie shorter days^ tlie Winter Gar- 
den portion lias been designed and arranged to serve 
also as a liall wliere musical performances can be 
given to large audiences. One element of originality 
in the way of municipal enterprise that can be 
claimed for this institution lies in the combination, 
practically under one roof, of a museum, picture- 
gallery, winter garden and concert-hall. So far as we 
are aware, no municipality in the kingdom has pro- 
vided an institution combining all these features." ^ 
The experiment is still young, but it has already 
achieved remarkable success. In a statement fur- 
nished to the present writers in December 1898, by 
the courtesy of Bailie Bilsland, the curator of the 
Palace says : 

'' From the first the success of the institution has 
been very remarkable ; in fact, so great was the crush 
of visitors for many months that great difficulty was 
experienced in dealing with them. In the evenings 
especially the interior of the building became so con- 
gested that it was frequently found necessary to close 
the entrance doors for a short interval. It could not, 
of course, be expected, nor was it desirable, that this 
should continue very long, but the daily average of 
visitors to the Palace is still very large, as is evi- 
denced by the fact that since the opening {i.e. in ten 
months) more than 750,000 people have visited it. It 
is noteworthy that of the first catalogue 43,000 copies 
were sold. 

" The causes of this great popularity are not far 
to seek. In the first place, the Palace is in close 
proximity to some of the most crowded parts of the 

^Glasgow Herald, January 2'4th, 1898. 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 577 

city — inhabited for the most part by people who have 
little or no leisure during the day, and whose only 
time for recreation is in the evening or on Saturday 
afternoon. Engaged for the most part in hard bodily 
labour, they do not care to go far from their homes 
to seek that recreation. It is evident also that there 
had been very severely felt in the East End the need 
of some place away from the public-house, or street 
corner, where friend could meet friend and walk and 
talk in comfort. This meeting-place the People's 
Palace supplied. Many people — especially young 
people — come down every evening to walk in the 
grounds surrounding the buildings, rendered cheerful 
even in winter by the electric light, taking a turn 
now and again into the Art Gallery to look at some 
favourite picture. As has already been pointed out, 
everything has been done to make the galleries 
bright, cheerful and clean, the pictures and art ob- 
jects have been of a very high class, and yet suffi- 
ciently interesting to the general public ; in a word, 
what has been aimed at is to make the institution, 
its contents and surroundings, as unlike the usual 
grimy environment of the people as possible : and all 
these things have tended to a success which it is the 
hope of the Committee will continue." 

Such statements are exceedingly encouraging, but 
they hold no surprise for those who, knowing the 
conditions under which the people live and work, 
know also how almost priceless the opportunity for 
joyous " escape " must be. 

(b) Arts and Crafts Exhibitions^ etc. 

The features that have proved so successful in 
Glasgow could well be adopted elsewhere, and every 

37 



57S THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

People's Palace erected under the conditions here con- 
templated should provide accommodation for periodical 
loan exhibitions of art, antiquities, etc., as well as 
for exhibitions of local handicrafts and industries, 
mechanical inventions, etc. 

The attractiveness of the former has long since been 
established. The efforts of Canon Barnett in "White- 
chapel, Mr. Percy Alden in Canning Town and Strat- 
ford, and the Rev. J. Scott Lidgett in Bermondsey, 
have proved conclusively that in the most destitute 
districts of East and South London the appeal to the 
sense of beauty wins a quick response. 

The following figures show the total number of 
visitors to the Annual Picture Exhibitions at the 
foregoing centres in 1897 and 1898 : — 

Total number of visitors. 
1897. 1898. 

Whitechapel (19 days) 63,160 51,450 

West Ham (29 days) . 120,000 (30 days) 116,000 

1896. 

Bermondsey (8 days) . 11,675 (10 days) 10,000 

In the provinces the interest is fully as great. The 
Annual Art Exhibition held in Bradford in the spring 
of 1898 attracted no less than 147,041 persons in 
the course of three months. In Manchester, again, 
the number of admissions to the Permanent Collection 
of Pictures in the Corporation Art Gallery, Mosley 
Street, from September 17th, 1896, to September 4th, 
1897, was 262,080. The number admitted to the 
Queen's Park Museum and Art Gallery at Harpurhey 
(Manchester) for the same period was 118,401. The 
"Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool was visited in 1897 
by 391,815 persons, or a daily average (for 278 week- 
days) of 1,410; while in Belfast — to take only one 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 579 

more instance — no fewer than 615,349 persons visited 
the Art Grallery and Museum in 1896-7 — a daily aver- 
age of 2,044. 

Nor can it be doubted that equal success would 
meet the attempt periodically to organize, in connec- 
tion with such People's Palaces, exhibitions of local 
industries, machinery in motion, etc. The success of 
the experiments already made in this direction in 
East London and elsewhere shows how great an op- 
portunity is here presented. From an industrial 
point of view alone it is difficult to exaggerate its 
importance, for in quickening the pride of crafts- 
manship it could hardly fail to provoke those improve- 
ments in technical skill which ultimately determine 
the question of industrial success. 

(c) Educational Agencies^ Popular Lectures^ etc. 

A further feature of such People's Palaces would 
be the organization of popular illustrated lectures on 
science, mechanical inventions, historj^, biography, 
travel, etc. The success of such lectures, given under 
responsible auspices, and by the most accomplished 
speakers, is assured. Nothing is more remarkable 
in this connection than the success that has every- 
where attended the science lectures, especially, given 
under the auspices of the Grilchrist Trust and other 
societies in different parts of the country during the 
last few years.^ The eager interest of the large crowds 
that have attended the lectures has furnished one of 
the most impressive facts in modern educational effort, 
and one which it would be folly for social workers to 
overlook. In the organization of similar lectures in 
connection with the proposed People's Palaces regard 
* See p. 741. 



58o THE TEJNIPERANCE PROBLEM 

would, of course, be had to tlie divergent interests of 
different localities and the syllabus would be made 
as varied and attractive as possible. The lectures on 
natural history and physical science could be supple- 
mented by lectures on topics of special local interest. 
If a town had expended a large sum on a drainage 
scheme, for example, the ratepayers would listen with 
interest to a descriptive lecture from the engineer. 
Again, in arranging the list of lectures, the questions 
and discoveries of the day would be put well to 
the front. Such topics as the construction of the 
Tower Bridge ; the sources of the water supply of 
large cities ; arctic exploration ; the autumn meteor 
shower ; the nature and application of the X Eays, 
would be attractive themes. These lectures would, 
of course, be supplementary to the ordinary recrea- 
tive agencies of the People's Palaces, and being held 
in one of several halls which such institutions would 
possess, would in no way interfere with other features 
of the work. Their educational influence would, 
however, be considerable. 

(d) Social and Recreative Clubs ^ Benefit Societies^ etc. 

Another feature of such institutions would be the 
provision of ample accommodation for Social Clubs, 
Sick Benefit Societies, etc. The need for the former, 
so far as men and women are concerned, would prob- 
ably be largely met by the provision of reading and 
games rooms such as have already been suggested, and 
further, by the provision of healthy public entertain- 
ments. But experience has shown that the '' club' 
has considerable attractions for a large class of work- 
ing men, and that being so it would be unwise to 
leave the want to le supplied in more questionable 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 581 

forms elsewhere. It is in this direction that the Uni- 
versity and Social Settlements in different parts of 
the country have won some of their most important 
successes, and the work that they have accomplished 
with limited financial resources is suggestive evidence 
of the work that might be accomplished under such a 
scheme as is here proposed. The Bishop of Stepney, 
a former Warden of the Oxford House Settlement, 
Bethnal Green, whose Men's Clubs have a total mem- 
bership of 950, and an average nightly attendance of 
475, has given in the following incident an interesting 
illustration of the possibilities that lie open to this 
form of social effort. " I was visiting," he says, '' in 
the London Hospital, and found myself sitting by the 
side of a broken-legged publican. When he heard 
who I was, he began asking about the welfare of 
several of our club members. I asked him how he 
knew them. ' Oh,' he said, ' they were regular cus- 
tomers of mine before they joined yoLir club ; I had a 
public-house close down your way.' 'Are you still 
there ? ' I asked him. ' No, sir ; I've moved a little 
farther off.' " 1 

But in addition to clubs for adults, the need for 
which would probably diminish with the more ade- 
quate provision of popular places of resort, arrange- 
ments could also be made for the organization of bright 
and cheerful clubs for working lads and for working 
girls, such as are so greatly needed in all our towns 
and cities, and, to a lesser extent, in our villages also. 
Here, again, we touch a form of social service that has 
already proved itself of inestimable value in the better 
organization of the leisure and lives of the j^oung. 
The number of lads' and girls' clubs in the country 
^ Work in Great Cities. 



582 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

at large is happily very considerable, and yet no one 
who has had intimate knowledge of even a single 
district in any important town would dream of sug- 
gesting that the provision of such clubs is at all com- 
mensurate with the need. Here, as in other directions, 
there is a serious deficiency, which only the resources 
and machinery of a great social enterprise can ade- 
quately meet. "Hooliganism" is a deplorable but 
perfectly explicable social phenomenon, and needs 
something far other than prison cells for its eradica- 
tion. So long as the community ignores the fact that 
for thousands of growing lads the nightly alternatives 
are the slum-tenement on the one hand, and the gin- 
palace and the street on the other, so long will ''Hooli- 
ganism" in one or other of its forms be rampant. 
The thought is in any case a sobering one, but it 
becomes doubly impressive when appeal is made to the 
results in character and fitness for citizenship which 
have again and again been achieved through the in- 
fluence of boys' clubs. In the light of these results 
''Hooliganism" becomes more than a social offence: 
it resolves itself into a positive social waste — a waste 
of forces upon which the community ultimately de- 
pends for the exaltation and enrichment of its social 
life. At present the stream of citizenship is too often 
poisoned at its source. 

The same considerations apply to the case of work- 
ing girls. The need here is assuredly not less — from 
the view of highest social progress it is probably far 
greater. But be this as it may, the simple fact that, 
as things are at present, thousands of working girls in 
all our large towns are compelled to find their recrea- 
tion in the streets is a disquieting circumstance that 
can hardly be dismissed with expressions of regret. 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 583 

In considering this question it is important to re- 
member that, excluding students, more than two- thirds 
of the girls in this country between the ages of fifteen 
and twenty are engaged in some form of employment. 
In 1891 no fewer than 68 "6 per cent, of the girls in 
England and "Wales between fifteen and twenty years 
of age were returned as " occupied." 1 In eight towns 
the percentage was between 70 and 80 ; in fourteen 
towns between 80 and 90 ; while in six towns in 
Lancashire (viz., Oldham, Bolton, Preston, Bury, Burn- 
ley, and Blackburn) the percentage ranged from 90 to 
95. Even if the home of the average working girl 
were less crowded and unhealthy than is too frequently 
the case, the conditions of employment create a need 
for greater and more varied recreative stimulus than 
is possible to her there. 

In view of the figures just given, there can, of 
course, be no suggestion of competition with existing 
agencies. What is here contemplated is no more than 
the frank recognition of a grave social deficiency, 
which it is in the power of the community by wise 
arrangements to meet. 

(e) Gymnasia. 

A further and greatly needed development in recrea- 
tive agencies for the young would be the provision, 
in connection with the People's Palaces, of separate 
and well-equipped gymnasia for working lads and 
girls. The admirable work that is now being done in 
Board Schools by means of musical drill could thus 
be efficiently followed up in the years when healthy 
physical development counts for so much. The need 

^ These figures include domestic servants, who form a large 
proportion of the whole. 



584 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

to be met in this case is more tlian one of recreation. 
It has an economic importance which calls for more 
urgent attention from those who are concerned with 
questions of industrial supremacy than it has yet re- 
ceived. So great an authority as the late Sir Edwin 
Chadwick declared it to be ^' established that for all 
ordinary civil labour four partially trained or drilled 
men are as efficient as five who are undrilled. In 
other words, considering the child as an investment, 
for a trifling expense of about £1 per head the pro- 
ductive power of that investment may, by physical 
training, be augmented by one-fifth for the whole 
period of working ability. Professor Laisne, an emi- 
nent professor of gymnastics in France, says that I 
understate the gain of power when I state it at one- 
fifth ; and that, by early and complete physical train- 
ing, speaking on his experience of a French population, 
it is practicable to impart to three the working-power 
of five. Taking it, however, at one-fifth, which I 
believe is an under-statement, a gain of one-fifth, upon 
our previous gain of one-third of the producing power 
of our population, as compared with continental nations 
of which I have spoken, is a gain upon that of the 
productive power of a fifth more of population, say of 
about two Scotlands or of two Lancashires, without 
the expense of educating them, feeding, clothing, 
housing, and administering their public affairs. Eco- 
nomically it is equivalent to an addition of one-fifth 
of the wage fund of the country." ^ 

(f) Temperance Caf4s. 
One other feature only of these institutions need 

^ Presidential Address, Economic Science Section of the 
Britisli Association for the Advancement of Science, 1862. 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 



b^o 



here be alluded to, but it is one of considerable im- 
portance. To ensure a full measure of success for the 
People's Palaces, it would be necessary that the re- 
freshment department should be established upon a 
liberal and satisfactory basis. The belief so widely 
held by social workers, that it is the attractions of the 
public-house, rather than the drink itself, that appeal, 
in the first instance, to so many of its habitues, is 
probably well grounded; but if so, there is clearly 
need to out-bid the attractions of the public-house by 
providing ample facilities for legitimate refreshment 
under brighter and more attractive conditions than the 
publican himself provides. The policy would be to 
establish Temperance cafes or saloons, thoroughly 
attractive in construction and decoration, properly 
warmed, ventilated and lighted, in which non-intoxi- 
cating drinks and other refreshments of good quality 
would be served at reasonable rates. The extent to 
which these cafes should be established experience 
and the special needs of localities could decide ; but 
while no People's Palace would be without its temper- 
ance bars and refreshment saloon, it is probable that, 
in some districts, it would be found desirable to estab- 
lish the cafes as separate institutions, in which music, 
newspapers, etc., could be provided, and accommoda- 
tion at cheap rates offered to sick benefit clubs and 
other workmen's societies. It would, however, be 
essential to the success of such cafes that they should 
out-vie the public-house in cleanliness, brightness and 
warmth. 

Such, in broad outline, is the scheme which, in the 
judgment of the present writers, is required for the 
true combating of the evils of intemperance. That it 
might need modification in matters of detail, as well 



586 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

as adjustment to special local needs, may be readily 
assumed ; ^ but it can hardly be doubted tbat, in its 
essential features, it would meet a widespread social 
need and exert an invaluable social influence. Lord 
Rosebery, speaking at tbe opening of the People's 
Palace- in Griasgow, said : " Among tbe many benefits 
wbicli I think sucb a building may be expected to 
confer on the community in wLicli it is placed is this 
— that it will give that community a centre in which 
to interest itself, a centre around which the affection 
and the association of the surrounding populace may 
be grouped ; not merely a place where they may spend 
a happy afternoon or a pleasant day, but a place on 
which they may centre their home associations." Re- 
ferring to the absence of these "home associations" 
in the industrial districts of our large towns, he said : 
" There is nothing to attach them {i.e. the working 
population) in the district in which they live except 
the place in which they work. There is no centre of 
charm or of pleasure ; there is nothing round which 
the memory can, so to speak, group itself, except their 
home, which, as I have already said, is too often sordid 
and inadequate. May we at least hope for this among 
the other benefits of this hall, that there will be a 
palace of pleasure and imagination around which the 
surrounding people may place their affections, and 
which may give them a home on which their memory 
may rest. . . . But, at any rate, sure I am of 
this, that a wise legislator, whether he be imperial or 
municipal, who will endeavour to attach the people to 

^ It is probable that in some localities it would be necessary 
to supplement the larger People's Palaces, with a number of 
smaller centres established in close proximity to the homes of 
tlie working classes. 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 587 

their homes with anything which may, as this palace 
may well do, become a centre of fascination or attrac- 
tion ... is a benefactor not merely to the com- 
munity in which he lives, but to the species at 
large." ' 

Financial Aspects of the Question. 

But the question will at once be asked, How far 
is such a scheme practicable ? Is there any reason- 
able ground to suppose that the enormous sums which 
such a scheme would require will be forthcoming? 
That the scheme would involve a very great outlay is 
certain. Nor is it less certain that localities for the 
most part would refuse even to consider the question 
if the scheme involved a new charge upon the rates. 
So far as the national and local exchequers are con- 
cerned, the scheme on a general scale is clearly im- 
practicable. But, as we have already hinted, and as 
we now proceed to show, the profits of the drink 
traffic — assuming it to be taken out of private hands 
— would be ample to meet the utmost requirements of 
the scheme. 

The total estimated expenditure upon intoxicants in 
the United Kingdom in 1899 was £162,163,474.2 Qf 
this sum : — 

£46,196,788 was expended on Spirits. 
99,470,908 „ „ „ Beer. 

16,495,778 3 „ „ „ Wine. 



£162,163,474 



* Glasgow Herald, Jannarj^ 24th, 1898. 
2 See p. 7. 

^ This amount includes a sum of £1,500,000 estimated to 
have been spent on British wines, cider, etc. 



588 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

The question arises, "What proportion of this aggre- 
gate sum is represented by the trade of public-houses 
and beer-shops? It may be assumed that compara- 
tively little wine is sold in public-houses, and it may 
be well for the purposes of an approximate estimate 
to entirely exclude the national expenditure upon 
wine from our calculations. This leaves us with 
a total expenditure — for beer and spirits only — of 
£145,667,696. How much of this sum was spent in 
public-houses and beer-shops ? It is impossible to 
answer the question absolutely, inasmuch as there are 
no statistics in existence to show what relation the 
sales of public-houses and beer-shops bear to the total 
national consumption of beer and spirits. Careful 
inquiries have, however, shown that, in the judgment 
of competent authorities, the proportion of two-thirds 
taken by Mr. Chamberlain in 1876 ^ may be accepted 
as a broad but fairly reliable estimate. The total 
value of the spirits and beer sold in public-houses and 
beer-shops in the United Kingdom may therefore be 
put at £97,000,000 per annum.^ 

(a) Amount of Profit. 

But the further question here arises. What propor- 
tion of this aggregate sum is represented by profits 
on sales ? For the purposes of the present discussion, 
the average net profit on sales may be taken at 20 



The Right Method loith the Publicans^ p. 28. 
The figures for 1899 may be stated tlius : — 
Total National Expenditure on Beer and 

Spirits £145,667,696 

Proportion represented by Public-bouse 

and Beer-shop sales, say two-thirds of 

total expenditure £97,111,797 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 589 

per cent.^ That this estimate is a low one will be 
apparent from what has been stated elsewhere,^ and 
there can be little doubt that under a system of public 
control such as is here contemplated, in which the 
enormous sums now paid for '^ goodwills " would no 
longer be required, this estimate would be largely 
exceeded. But accepting the estimate as it stands, 
the total net profits of the public-houses and beer- 
shops of the United Kingdom may be reckoned at 
£19,400,000 per annum. This estimate, it will be 
remembered, includes beer and spirits only, and takes 
no account of profits on wine, mineral waters, etc. 

Now, assuming that the reduction in the number of 
licensed houses {i.e. to the proportion of not more 
than one licence to each 400 of the rural population, 
and not more than one licence to each 750 of the 
town population) would result in a diminution of the 
traffic by one-third^ it will be seen that the avail- 
able profits from the entire public-house and beer- 
shop traffic will, upon the above basis, amount to 
£12,933,333, or six shillings and fourpence per head of 
the population.^ That is to say, a town of 100,000 
inhabitants which had adopted the controlling system 
would have an available annual surplus profit of nearly 
£32,000. It will be obvious, however, that to devote 
the whole of this sum to the town in which the sales 
took place, and to ignore the social needs of rural and 
other districts where prohibition had been enacted, 
would be to place such prohibition areas at a serious 

^ This is the proportion taken by Mr. Chamberlain in 1876, 
Op. cit, p. 28. 

2 See p. 743. 

^ The estimated population of the United Kingdom in 1899 
was 40,559,954. 



590 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

disadvantage. In any scheme, therefore, for the ap- 
propriation of the surplus profits of the traffic in a 
locality, provision should be made by way of propor- 
tionate grants for the social and recreative needs of 
the prohibition districts. 

(b) Appropriation of Profits. 

Probably the right method to adopt would be to 
hand over the whole of the profits made in a town or 
locality to a central State authority (e.g. the Local 
Government Board, or some other State Department), 
part of such profits being subsequently returned to the 
locality in the form of annual grants for exclusive use 
in the maintenance of the People's Palaces, etc. 

The question, however, suggests itself : "What pro- 
portion of the total profits realized by a locality should 
be so returned ? In other words, what share are the 
localities to receive of their own profits ? 

It will be clear that the principle of appropriation 
must be such as shall give the locality no interest 
in stimulating sales. That is to say, that the sum 
allotted to a locality shall be a fixed sum in ratio to 
the population^ and not in ratio to profits earned. It 
would appear, from careful calculation, that an annual 
amount of £1,000 per 10,000 of the population — or 
less than one-third of the probable profits — would be 
sufficient to realize the social and recreative agencies 
already indicated.^ 

^ This proportion, probably, would need to be slightly in- 
creased in the case of small towns, since the cost of providing 
and maintaining adequate People's Palaces would not be strictly 
proportionate to population ; but it may be accepted as a safe 
average. 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 591 



That is to say, a town of the size of 




£ 


Cardiff . {^^^^^ 
Bradford . . , 


receive upon this basj 
an annual grant of 


■} 


13,000 
21,500 


Middlesborough , 
Preston . . , 


1 n n 




7,500 
11,000 


Coventry . . , 
Plymouth . . , 
W est Ham . . , 






5,000 

8,000 

20,000 



In the principal cities the grants would, of course, 
be much larger. Leeds, for example, would receive, 
on the basis suggested, an annual grant in aid of its 
People's Palaces, Temperance Cafes, etc., of £36,500 ; 
Birmingham would receive £48,000; Manchester, 
£50,500 ; Liverpool, £52,000 ; while the vast needs of 
London would be met by an annual grant of half a 
million sterling. 

These sums, although probably sufEcient to meet 
the recreative needs of the localities concerned, would, 
nevertheless, as has been pointed out, represent only 
one-third of the estimated net profits on the sale of 
beer and spirits in those towns ; so that sums equal to 
twice those amounts would be available for purposes 
outside the localities. To what objects, we would 
now ask, should these large surplus funds be devoted ? 
Part of the answer is clear. The first claim upon them 
should unquestionably be the provision of recreative 
centres in the prohibition areas. Starting from the 
position that the primary aim of the scheme is to 
encourage temperance, it would obviously be unjust, 
as well as impolitic, to penalise prohibition areas by 
excluding them from participation in the benefits of 
the scheme. It is therefore suggested that annual 



592 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

grants should be made to the prohibition areas on 
precisely the same basis {i.e. ratio of population) and 
for the same objects as in the case of towns or villages 
that adopted the controlling system. 

But even this would not exhaust the whole of the 
profits from the trafHc. On the contrary, it is certain 
that if the controlling system were generally estab- 
lished in the towns and cities of the country enough 
funds would be forthcoming to meet the recreative 
requirements of the whole of the prohibition areas, 
and still to leave a large surplus to be devoted to such 
Imperial purposes as might be decided upon. For 
example, assuming that one-third of the total popu- 
lation of the kingdom would voluntarily adopt pro- 
hibition, with the result that the traffic would still 
further be reduced by one-third,^ an assumption that 
will be accepted as a very sanguine estimate ; and 
that the remaining two-thirds of the population 
would adopt the controlling system, the total net 
profits on sales would amount to nearly nine millions 
(£8,622,000). 

Under the plan suggested, the distribution of this 
sum would be as follows : — 

Grants for People's Palaces, etc., to locali- 
ties in which traffic would still be car- £ 

ried on {i.e. under controlling system) . 2,704,000 

Grants for similar purposes to prohibition 

areas 1,352,000 

Balance available for Imperial purposes . . 4,566,000 

£8,622,000 

^ This reduction, added to the reduction referred to on p. 589, 
would represent a total reduction of the public-house traffic of 
7iot less than 55 per cent. 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 593 

That tlie amount of tlie probable surplus available 
for Imperial purposes, stated above, is by no means 
over-estimated (assuming the controlling system to be 
generally adopted) will be evident from the fact that 
it is based upon the assumption that one-third of the 
entire population of the kingdom would voluntarily 
adopt a prohibition policy,^ and that the public-house 
and beer-shop traffic would be reduced by 55 ;per cent. 
Moreover, as we have already pointed out, the figures 
include only the profits on beer and spirits, and take 
no account of profits on the sale of wine, mineral 
waters, etc. Even if we allow for an increase in the 
prohibition districts beyond the limit here suggested, 
it is clear that there will still be left a considerable 
margin of unappropriated profit to meet a further 
reduction in consumption. The funds available for 
recreative purposes would, indeed, be so ample that 
absolutely no inducement would be offered to localities 
either to extend their sales or to oppose whatever 
further restrictions might be demanded by public 
opinion. As a matter of fact, if the public-house 
traffic were reduced to about one-fifth of its present 
dimensions^ there would still be profits enough to meet 



^ Taking tlie technical and official distinction of "urban" and 
"rural" adopted by tbe Eegistrar-General, the population of 
England and Wales in 1891 was as follows :— 

Urban 20,895,504, or 72 per cent. 

Eural 8,107,021, or 28 ,, 

or a proportion of 258 urban residents to 100 rural. If, how- 
ever, the line separating urban and rural be drawn at towns of 
5,000 inhabitants, the figures are as follow : — 

Urban 19,763,264, or 68 per cent. 

Eural 9,239,261, or 32 „ 

38 



594 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

the grants for People's Palaces, Temperance Cafes, etc., 
for the whole of the Kingdom} 

It is, of course, self-evident that towns continuing 
the system of private licence would have no claim 
upon the funds available for distribution — the grants 
being strictly confined to towns adopting the con- 
trolling system, and prohibition districts. 



The Central Authority. 

The importance of maintaining the clearest line of 
division between the sphere and powers of a company, 
or of a municipality, and the sphere and powers of 
the State, has elsewhere been emphasized, but it may 
well be referred to here. Anything approaching to the 
Russian Crown Monopoly for the retail sale of liquor 
would be fraught with serious danger. At the same 
time, the control of the central government over the 
proceedings of the localities must be such as to effec- 
tually remove all danger of abuse. The experience of 
Norway has shown that the central government may 

^ This will be apparent from the following figures : — 

Estimated retail value of spirits and beer sold in 

public-houses and beershops in the United £ 

Kingdom at the present time 97,000,000 

Assuming the traffic to be reduced to about one- 
fifth (say 21 per cent.) of its present dimensions, 
the total would be . 20,370,000 

Profits on this amount at 20 per cent, would repre- 
sent 4,074,000 

Required for People's Palaces, Temperance Cafes, 
etc., on the basis of grants suggested {i.e. £1,000 
per 10,000 of the population) for a population of 
40,500,000 4,050,000 

Leaving a balance of 24,000 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 595 

exercise a most valuable function in the supervision 
and ultimate approval of the bye-laws under which 
the local traffic is carried on, and also in undertaking 
such superintendence over the transactions of the 
localities as shall ensure that the intent of the law 
with respect to them is fulfilled. In addition to 
giving final sanction to the bye-laws regulating the 
traffic, the Central Authority would determine the 
method in which the accounts of the localities should 
be kept, and would institute a separate audit. The 
accounts would, moreover, throughout the year, be 
open to the examination of State inspectors, who 
would see that the grants in aid of local recreative 
centres were appropriated strictly in accordance with 
the laws governing their distribution. In these and 
other ways the precautions against abuse could be 
made absolute. Whether the Central Authority 
should be the Local Government Board or a specially 
appointed State Department need not here be dis- 
cussed. 



Chaeacter of the Public-Houses that would 
Remain. 

Nothing has been said so far, except indirectly, as 
to the character of the public-houses that would re- 
main {i.e. under the controlling system). The question 
is, however, of considerable importance. Without 
attempting to anticipate the whole of the provisions 
that would be required for the proper conduct of the 
traffic, the regulations ultimately decided upon would 
necessarily include the following provisions : — 



596 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

1. Sales on credit would be prohibited. 

2. No female bar-tenders would be employed. 

3. No adventitious attractions, sucb as music, etc., 

would be associated witb tbe sale of intoxicants. 

4. Accommodation for clubs, sick benefit societies, 

etc., would no longer be provided at the public- 
bouses, ample provision for these being made 
elsewhere {e.g. at the People's Palaces). 

5. Every public-house would be open to full public 

inspection from the highway, no screens or par- 
titions being used. It is noteworthy that this 
reform was advocated by a Select Committee of 
the House of Commons as far back as 1834. 

6. Back-door and side-door entrances {i.e. doors open- 

ing into passages or courts not being public 
thoroughfares) would no longer be provided. 

These proposals are far from being exhaustive, but 
they sufficiently indicate the general character of the 
conditions by which the traffic would be controlled. 
Other important questions, such as the inspection of 
public-houses, the provisions respecting hotels, restau- 
rants and clubs, are discussed in detail elsewhere.^ 

The Eight of Initiative. 

It is, of course, of the essence of the present pro- 
posals that the legislation they suggest should be 
^permissive in its character. 

Localities would be left free either to accept or to 
reject the controlling system as they chose. The right 
of initiative would lie {a) with the municipal councils, 
acting by formal resolution ; and (b) with the people 
themselves. 

^ See p. 747. 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 597 

In tlie majority of cases tlie initiative would prob- 
ably be taken by tbe former ; but, in tbe event of 
failure on the part of a municipal council to act in 
the matter, it should be open to the inhabitants of a 
locality, as in the case of local veto, to demand by a 
popular vote the adoption of the system. A provision 
of this kind would effectually prevent any attempt on 
the part of the liquor trade to ''pack " the municipal 
councils — a device that would certainly be resorted to 
if the initiative were confined to them. 

The Licensing Authority. 

It is important, further, to point out that, under the 
scheme embodied in this chapter, no immediate change 
is contemplated in the constitution of the licensing 
authority. In the event of a locality adopting the 
controlling system, the municipal council might very 
properly, thereafter, become the licensing authority, 
but so long as the traffic remained in private hands the 
functions of such an authority could be more safely 
entrusted to the magistrates. The reasons for this 
are so obvious that they do not need to be stated at 
length. It is clearly undesirable to invite such a 
corruption of municipal politics as would, under exist- 
ing conditions, result from the active interference of 
the liquor trade if the municipal councils were con- 
stituted the local licensing authorities. Once the 
system of private licence were abolished this danger 
would cease. 



598 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

CONCLUSION. 

In attempting to sum up the broad conclusions to 
which the present argument has led, it will be well 
to concentrate attention upon a few important points. 
The propositions which we have attempted to estab- 
lish are chiefly these: 

1. That the present consumption of intoxicants in 

this country is not only excessive, but seriously 
subversive of the economic and moral progress 
of the nation. 

2. That in the present state of public opinion pro- 

hibition in the large towns is to be regarded 
as impracticable, although it is possible that 
local veto might be successfully exercised in a 
suburb or ward of a town where there was a 
sufficient " safety-valve " in the shape of neigh- 
bouring facilities for the purchase of drink. 

3. That in no English-speaking country has the 

problem of the intemperance of large towns 
been solved. 

4. That an examination of the causes of alcoholic 

intemperance shows us that, while some of 
these are beyond our reach, others that are of 
the utmost importance are distinctly within 
the sphere of legislative influence. 

5. That we may single out as effective causes of 

intemperance : — 

(a) The monotony and dulness — too often the 
active misery — of many lives. 

(&) The absence of adequate provision for 
social intercourse and healthful recrea- 
tion, 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 599 

(c) Above all, the arrangements under wliich 
the sale of alcoholic drinks is placed in 
the hands of those who seek to stimu- 
late their consumption to the utmost. 

In the present chapter a careful attempt has been 
made to meet the demand which these propositions 
suggest. It is too much to hope that the scheme that 
has been outlined will satisfy the idealist, but it offers 
at least a common meeting-ground where moderate and 
advanced exponents of temperance alike may join hands 
with all other earnest citizens in the effort to advance 
what has come to be acknowledged as a " momentous 
human interest." ^ The proposals frankly recognise : 
First, that reforms to be effective must be constructive 
as well as restrictive. Secondly, that they should reach 
as far as the progressive spirit of the community has 
penetrated and been accepted, and be consistent with 
further advance. Thirdly, that they should educate 
and set free the latent progressive resources of each 
locality. 

The present writers are well aware that objection 
has been taken to schemes for the municipalization 
of the drink traf!ic on the ground of their possible 
corrupting influence. This danger is, however, not 
merely remote from, but absolutely destroyed by, 
the present proposals. 

"What is actually provided for is a system of local 
restriction and control — exercised preferably, although 
not necessarily, through the municipal councils ^ — 

* See Popular Control of the Liquor Traffic, p. 98. 

^ The present proposals entirely admit of the experiment 
being made, in the first instance, by authorized companies, in- 
stead of by the municipal councils, in localities where it should 
be so desired. In the case of the rural districts the experiment 



6oo THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

from wliicli all tliat is commonly objected to in pro- 
posals for municipalization has been effectually and 
of set purpose excluded. That this is so can easily be 
shown. It is provided : — 

1. That localities shall organize and control the 

traffic (either directly or through a company, 
as in Norway), under the direct supervision 
of the central government, and only within 
clearly defined statutory limits. 

2. That the whole of the profits ^ shall, in the first 

instance, be handed over to a central State 
Authority. 

3. That the sole benefit which a locality shall 

receive from the profits of the traffic shall be 
an annual grant from the State Authority for 
the establishment and maintenance of recrea- 
tive centres, the primary object of which shall 
be to counteract the influence of the drink 
traffic. Such grant to be a fixed sum iyi ratio 
to population^ and not in ratio to profits earned. 

4. That similar grants shall be made to prohibition 

areas, all inducement to continue the traffic 
for the sake of the grants being thus eJffectually 
destroyed. 

5. That where the municipal councils adopt the 

system and elect to control the traffic, they 
shall, as in the case of the present technical 
education committees, invite the active co- 
could be entrusted to either the parish councils or authorized 
companies. 

^ In any scheme for the disbursement of profits regard would 
of course be had to necessary appropriations for sinking funds, 
etc. 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 60 1 

operation of a fixed number of influential 
citizens, other than members of the council, in 
the work of local management.^ 
6. Finally, the right of prohibiting the trafEc is 
placed within the power of every locality. 

It is evident, therefore, that the conditions would 
be such as to destroy the risk of municipal corruption. 
That the scheme, by enlarging and enriching the idea 
of municipal responsibility, would have an entirely 
opposite effect could, with equal explicitness, be 
shown. As Lord E-osebery has admirably put it : 
" The larger the sense of municipal responsibility 
which prevails, the more it reacts on the corporation 
or the municipality itself. By that I mean this, that 
the men outside the municipality, or who have 
hitherto held aloof from municipal government, when 
they see the higher aims of which the municipality 
is capable, when they see the wider work that lies 
before it, when they see the incomparable practical 
purposes to which the municipality may lend its 
great power, are not inclined any longer to hold 
aloof." 2 

But apart from the qualities or defects of a par- 
ticular scheme, it is well to remember that the alter- 
natives open to Temperance reformers are very few. 
There is a growing feeling that the enormous 
monopoly profits which at present attach to the 

^ That the scheme, in its provision of recreative agencies, 
would require for its full success the active co-operation in each 
locality of earnest citizens is certain. But the experience of 
School Boards especially has shown that there is no lack of 
high-minded and gifted men and women willing to devote 
time and lahour to well-devised schemes of social service. 



Glasgow Herald^ January 24th, 1898, 



6o2 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

Trade, and whicli must grow, rather than diminisli, 
with an increasing population and a diminishing 
number of licences, ought not to he reaped by private 
individuals, but be used for the benefit of the com- 
munity. The question to be decided is, How best 
may this be effected ? One method of effecting it 
is by offering the licences at public auction to those 
who will agree to pay the highest licence fees, or — if 
this method be objected to — by largely increasing 
the statutory fees. In other words, by adopting, in 
one or other of its forms, a system of High Licence. 
But, apart from the fact that this suggestion touches 
part of the problem only, its defects, as we have seen, 
are obvious. It not only fails to destroy the political 
influence of the Trade, but it gives the licensee an 
even greater incentive to push his sales. The in- 
creased cost of the licence must be met by increased 
sales. 

The alternative scheme is to take the traffic en- 
tirely out of private hands. There are two ways in 
which this can be done. We can either create, as in 
Eussia, a system of State monopoly ; or, on the other 
hand, what is proposed in this chapter — a system of 
local restriction and control. The former system is 
clearly inadmissible. Its defects are too obvious to 
call for further comment. "We are therefore shut 
down to some such scheme as is here proposed — a 
scheme of local management carried out under strict 
statutory safeguards. This being so, the only re- 
maining question to be decided is the appropriation of 
the profits. Here again the alternatives are simple 
and clearly defined. The profits might be devoted to 
{a) the relief of local rates ; (6) the subvention of local 
charities, as, until recently, in itTorway ; (c) State or 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 603 

Imperial purposes ; or {d) the provision — as is liere sug- 
gested — of efficient counter-attractions. The first of 
these alternatives is so inherently vicious, and would 
encounter such overwhelming opposition, that it need 
not be further considered. The second and third 
proposals, although far less objectionable, are still 
open to serious criticism. Their inherent defect is 
that they would deflect and absorb, for quite other 
purposes, resources that are needed for directly com- 
bating the evils of the traffic. The fourth alternative 
is free from these defects. It starts from the position, 
which few will question, that the public-house pro- 
blem is largely — by no means entirely — an ''enter- 
tainment of the people " problem ; that it has its roots 
in ordinary social instincts as well as in depraved 
and unenlightened tastes ; and that it can only be 
effectively solved when provision is made for adequate 
counter-attractions. It is claimed for the present 
proposals that they make such provision possible in a 
form that would powerfully contribute to the highest 
interests of the individual and the truest progress 
of the State. 

The final appeal may justly be made to the eloquent 
words in which, twenty years ago, the Lords' Com- 
mittee on Intemperance summed up the argument 
for local management and control. Referring to the 
objections urged against both the Grothenburg system 
and the system of direct municipal control, the 
Committee say : '' We do not wish to undervalue the 
force of these objections ; but if the risks be consider- 
able, so are the expected advantages. And when great 
communities, deeply sensible of the miseries caused 
by intemperance, witnesses of the crime and pau- 
perism which directly spring from it, conscious of 



6o4 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

the contamination to wMcli their younger citizens 
are exposed, watcliing with, grave anxiety the growth 
of female intemperance on a scale so vast and at a 
rate of progression so rapid as to constitute a new 
reproach and danger, believing that not only the 
morality of their citizens, but their commercial pros- 
perity, is dependent upon the diminution of these 
evils, seeing also that all that general legislation has 
been hitherto able to effect has been some im- 
provement in public order, while it has been powerless 
to produce any perceptible decrease of intemperance, 
it would seem somewhat hard, when such communities 
are willing, at their own cost and hazard, to grapple 
with the difficulty and undertake their own purifica- 
tion, that the Legislature should refuse to create for 
them the necessary machinery, or to intrust them 
with the requisite powers." ^ 

The reasonableness of that appeal will probably be 
generally accepted, and its force may justly be claimed 
in behalf of the present proposals. That these pro- 
posals would solve, absolutely and definitively, the 
entire problem of intemperance, is neither claimed nor 
believed. This no single scheme can effect. But that 
they offer a reasonable basis for co-operation to all 
who are concerned to achieve such a result, and would 
powerfully contribute to bring it about, is fully and 
earnestly believed. If the proposals fall short of the 
full aim of the idealist, they in no way conflict with 
his ideal. They simply lay the foundations upon 
which he and others may build. 

^ Report of the Lords' Committee on Intemperance, 1879, 
p. 25. 



APPENDICES 



605 



CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOLIC BEVEEAGES. 

I. EuEOPE AND America. 
Comparative Statement, showing tlie per capita consumption 
of Alcoholic Beverages in {a) the United Kingdom and (&) the 
various countries of Europe and the United States, as far as 
the particulars can be stated. The English measure is taken 
throughout. 

1. Wine. 
Consumption per Head of the Population. 



Countries. 


1885-89. 


1890-94. 


1895. 


1896. 


1897. 


1898. 




Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


United Kingdom 


0-37 


0-38 


0-37 


0-40 


0-39 


0-41 


Germany : 














Prussia . . . 


\ 












Alsace-Lorraine 
Bavaria . . . 


[ 


No 


Eetur 


ns 






Saxony . . . 


) 












Wlirtemburg . 


5-32 


4-71 


5-94 


6-60 


5-50 





Baden .... 
Hesse .... 


} 


No 


Eetur 


ns 






Total, German 














Empire 


1-141 


1-28 


1-06 


2-29 


1-34 


0-77 


Norway .... 


0192 


0-253 


0-31 


0-52 


0-58 


_ 


Sweden .... 





0-05^ 


0-10 


0-13 


0-15 





Holland .... 


0-46 


0-44 


0-42 


0-42 


0-40 


— 


Belgium .... 


0-72 


0-82 


0-90 


1-03 


0-86 


0-88 


France .... 


20-2 


23-9 


24-4 


23-8 


24-4 


24-6 


Switzerland . . 
Portugal . . . 


JNoEe 


turns 


14-1 


16-9 
20-5 


15-6 
20-4 


14-7 
20-1 


Spain 


16-2^ 


17-9 


19-6 


— 






Italy ...... 


21-2 


21-5 


16-1 


19-1 


16-3 


20-2 


Austria (Proper) . 


3-87 


3-83 


3-74 


3-52 


3-08 





Hungary . . . 


5-01 


1-89 


2-64^ 


2-20 


2-20 


2-20 


Total, Austro- 














Hungarian 














Empire 


4-22 


3-4 


3-30 


2-86 


2-64 


— 


United States . . 


0-43 


0-36 


0-23 


0-22 


0-44 


0-23 



1889. 2 1886-90. 



3 1891-4. 

607 



^ 1893-4. ^ 1887-9. 



6o8 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



2. Beer. 
Consumption per Head of the Population. 



Countries. 


1885-89. 


1890-94. 


1895. 


1896. 


1897. 


1898. 




Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


United Kingdom 


27-5 


29-8 


29-7 


30-7 


31-4 


31-9 


Eussia .... 


0-74 


0-69 


0-84 


0-92 


0-94 


0-89 


Norway .... 


3-3 


4-5 


3-9 


3-6 


3-9 


4-8 


Sweden .... 


5-3 


6-8 


7-8 


9-3 


10-8 





Denmark . . . 


— 


18-41 


191 


18-8 


20-8 


20-8 


Germany : 














Prussia . . . 




No 


Eetur 


ns 






Alsace-Lorraine 


11-2 


14-5 


15-2 


17-4 


16-5 


16-7 


Bavaria . . . 


47-9 


49-3 


51'7 


51-9 


54-8 


561 


Saxony . . . 




No 


Eetur 


ns 






Wtirtembnrg . 


34-8 


38-2 


37-6 


41-4 


40-3 


431 


Baden .... 


19-8 


22-4 


24-4 


27-6 


34-2 


36-4 


Total, German 














Empire 


20-6 


23-5 


23-5 


25-5 


25-5 


271 


Holland .... 




No 


Eetur 


ns 






Belgium .... 


36-9 


39-7 


42-2 


43-6 


44-4 


45-5 


France .... 


4-7 


4-9 


51 


51 


5-3 


5-5 


Switzerland . . 


8-2 


10-9 


12-5 


13-9 


14-7 


15-4 


Italy 


0-18 


0-15 


Oil 


Oil 


Oil 


— 


Austria (Proper) . 


11-5 


13-2 


14-5 


15-4 


15-6 


— 


Hungary . . . 


0-9 


015 


2-0 


2-2 


2-2 


— 


Total, Austro- 














Hungarian 














Empire . . 


7-0 


8-2 


9-2 


9-9 


9-9 


— 


Roumania . . . 


__ 


__ 


__ 


__ 


_ 


_^ 


United States . . 


9-7 


12-6 


12-4 


12-7 


12-2 


130 



1892-4. 



APPENDICES 



609 



3. Spirits (50 per cent. Alcohol). 
Consumption per Head of the Population. 



Countries. 


1885-89. 


1890-94. 


1895. 


1896. 


1897. 


1898. 




Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


United 














Kingdom : 














British . . 


0-71 


0-79 


0-75 


0-79 


0-81 


0-82 


Foreign . 


0-22 


0-22 


0-20 


0-21 


0-21 


0-21 


Total. . 


0-93 


1-01 
1-09 


0-95 


1-00 


1-02 


1-03 


Eussian Empire 


1-43 


1-03 


1-03 


1-08 


1-08 


ls[orway . . . 


0-69 


0-76 


0-77 


0-51 


0-48 


0-57 


Sweden . . . 


1-6 


1-5 


1-5 


1-6 


1-6 


1-8 


Denmark. . . 


3-2 


3-3 


3-4 


3-3 


3-3 


3-2 


Germany : — 














Prussia . . . 














Alsace-Lorraine 














Bavaria . . . 


I 


No 


Return 


s 






Saxony . . . 














Wtirtemburg . 














Baden . . . 


— 


1-70 


1-76 


1-85 


1-80 


1-98 


Hesse. . . . 




No 


Return 


3 






Total, German 














Empire . . 


1-781 


1-97 


1-89 


1-94 


1-89 


1-85 


Holland . . . 


1-98 


1-96 


1-91 


1-91 


1-87 


1-80 


Belgium . 




1-96 


2-14 


2-20 


1-89 


2-00 


1-91 


France . 




1-68 


1-90 


1-78 


1-85 


1-89 


207 


Switzerland 







1-38 


1-25 


1-32 


1-36 


1-36 


Portugal . 




— 


Oil 


0-09 


0-09 


009 


0-09 


Spain . . 




0-902 


0-76 


0-51 


— 


— 


— 


Italy . . 




0-33 


0-29 


0-22 


0-24 


0-26 


— 


Austria (Proper) 


1-8 


2-2 


2-2 


2-4 


2-2 


— 


Hungary . . . 


2-4 


2-3 


2-4 


2-2 


2-4 


— 


Total, Austro- 














Hungarian 














Empire . . 


2-0 


2-3 


2-2 


2-4 


2-2 


— 


United State 


)3 . 


1-05 


1-19 


0-93 


0-83 


0-84 


0-92 



1888-9. 



1887-9. 



6io 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



II. Beitish Colonies. 

Comparative Statement showing tlie per capita consumption of 
Alcoholic BeYerage3 in (a) the United Kingdom, and {h) the British 
Colonies. 

1. Wine. 

Consumption per Head of the Population. 



Countries. 


1888-&2. 


1893. 


: 1894. 


1895. 


' 1896. 

! 


1897. 


1898. 




Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 

j 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


United 
















Kingdom. . 


0-38 


0-37 


' 0-36 


0-37 


0-40 


0-39 


0-41 


New South 
















Wales . . . 


OSl 


0'84 


0-80 


0-64 


0'61 


0-72 


0-64 


Victoria . . . 


1-4 


1-0 


1-4 


1-6 


21 


1-4 





South Australia 


) 














(except North- 
ern Territory) 


j 


No 


Inform 


ation 








South Australia 
















(Northern 
















Territory) . 


0-29^ 


0-38 


0-24 


0-37 


0-44 


0-41 




Western Aus- 
















tralia . . . 


— 


1-6 


1-4 


1-5 


1-4 


11 


1-0 


Queensland . . 


0-63 


0-32 


0-50 


0-62 


0-44 


052 


0-36 


Tasmania . . 


0-17 


0-09 


0-08 


0-09 


0-09 


0'09 


013 


New Zealand . 


0-18 


017 


014 


013 


014 


015 


015 


Natal .... 


0-07 


0-05 


0-05 


0-06 


0-07 


0-07 


0-08 


Cape of Good 
















Hope . . . 


3-31 


3-2 


2-2 


2-6 


1-9 


2-0 


21 


Dominion of 
















Canada . . 


0-11 


010 


0'09 


0-09 


0'09 


0-08 


0-08 


Newfoundland 


0-03 2 


— 


1 











1891-2, 



1888 and 1891, 



APPENDICES 



6ii 



2. Beer. 
Consumption per Head of the Population. 



Countries. 


1888-92. 


1893. 


1894. 


1895. 


1896. 
Gallons. 


1897. 


1898. 




Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons- 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


United 
















Kingdom. . 


29-2 


29-6 


29-4 


29-7 


30-7 


31-4 


31-9 


New South 
















Wales . . . 


11-1 


9-2 


9-0 


9-0 


9-1 


9-5 


9-8 


Victoria . . . 


17-7 


12-4 


12-3 


12-5 


12-4 


12-7 





South Australia 
















(except North- 
















ern Territory) 


No 


Inform 


ation 


8-9 


9-1 


8-6 


— 


South Australia 
















(Northern 
















Territory) . 


2-3^ 


2-3 


2-9 


2-3 


2-G 


3-2 


— 


Western Aus- 
















tralia . . . 


No 


Inform 


ation 




20-9 


25-3 


23-6 


Queensland . . 


100^ 


8-8 


9-2 


iri 


12-4 


11-5 


iro 


Tasmania . . 


9-6 


7-3 


70 


71 


7-2 


7-2 


7-6 


New Zealand . 


7-6 


7-7 


7-4 


7-4 


7-9 


8-2 


8-4 


Natal .... 


092 - 


0-57 


0-28 


0-31 


0-40 


0-42 


0-40 


Cape of Good 
















Hope . . . 


1-3' 


1-4 


1-5 


1-5 


1-6 


1-7 


1-6 


Dominion of 
















Canada . . 


3-6 


3-5 


3-5 


3-4 


3-G 


3-5 


3-8 


Newfoundland 


0-11^ 


- 


— 


— 


— 


- — 


— 



1891-2. 



1889-92. 



1888 and 1891. 



6i 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



3. Spirits. 
Consumption per Head of the Pojmlation, 



Countries. 


1888-92. 


1893. 


1894. 


1895. 


1896. 


1897. 


]893. 




Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


United 
















Kingdom. . 


0-98 


1-01 


1-00 


0-95 


1-00 


1-02 


1-03 


New South 
















Wales. . . 


1-08 


0-S3 


0-77 


0-73 


0-73 


0-71 


0-74 


Victoria . . . 


1-4 


0-46 


0-74 


0-66 


0-91 


0-84 


— . 


South Australia 
















(except North- 
















ern Territory) 


0-51 


0-41 


0-38 


0-35 


0-37 


0-35 


— 


South Australia; 
















(Northern, 
















Territory-) . 


1-d' 


2-2 


2-3 


2-4 


2-3 


2-7 


— 


Western Aus- ! 
















tralia ... 


1-8 


1-8 


1-7 


2-3 


2-5 


2-1 


1-5 


Queensland. . 


1-40 


0-95 


0-98 


0-95 


0-87 


0-90 


0-96 


Tasmania . . ' 


0-63 


0-42 


0-37 


0-38 


0-38 


0-38 


0-42 


New Zealand . 


0-71 


0-70 


0-65 


0-63 


0-64 


0-66 


0-66 


Natal .... 


0-33- 


0-31 


0-29 


0-28 


0-31 


0-33 


060 


Cape of Good ; 
















Hope . . . ' 


1-21 


1-3 


1-2 


1-2 


ri 


1-2 


10 


Dominion of 
















Canada . . 


0-78 


0-75 


0-75 


0-68 


0-65 


0-75 


0-55 


Newfoundland 


0-36 2 


— 


— 


— 


— 


— 





1891-2. 



2 1889-92. 



3 1888 and 1891. 



APPENDICES 



613 



CONSUMPTION OF ABSOLUTE ALCOHOL. 

Tables showing the average jjev capita consumption of 
Absolute Alcoliol in {a) Europe and America ; and (6) the 
British Colonies. 



I. United Kingdom, Europe, and America. 











Spirits 


(50 per 


Absolute 


Countries. 


Wine. 


Beer. 


cent, alcohol). 


Alcohol.i 




Years. 


Gallons. 


Years. Gallons. 


Years. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


France . . . 


1894-8 


24-24 


! 

1894-8 ; 5-20 


1894-8 


1-87 


! 3-56 


Belgium. . . 


1 


0-91 


„ 1 43-20 




2-04 


2-83 


Switzerland . 




15-48 


„ ' 13-54 


55 


1-31 


2-7G 


Denmark . . 


: NoEe 


turns 


„ i 19-70 




8-30 


2-43 


Spain . . . 


1893-5 


20-30 


No Ee turns 1 1893-5 


0-60 


2-33 


Italy. . . . 


1894-8 


17-72 


1893-7 1 0-11 


1893-7 


0-25 


2-30 


Austria . . . 


1893-7 


3-69 


„ 1 14-74 


55 


2-24 


2-08 


Germany . . 
United 

Kingdom 


1894-8 


1-38 


1894-8 25-10 


1894-8 


1-90 


2-08 




0-39 


„ i 30-60 


11 


100 


2-08 


Portugal . . 


' 1896-8 


20-33 


No Ee turns ,, 


0-09 


207 


Hungary . . 


' 1894-8 


2-33 


1893-7 1 2-10 1 1893-7 


2-40 


1-50 


Sweden . . . 


1893-7 


010 


„ 1 8-44 1894-8 


1-60 


1 1-16 


Holland. . . 


,, 


0-42 


No Ee turns „ 


1-89 


1-00 


United States . 


1894-8 


0-28 


1894-8 12-60 


0-93 


1-00 


Eussia . . . 


1893-7 


0-60^ 


0-85 1 „ 


1-05 


: 0-61 


Norway . . . 


" 


0-37 


4.-19 i 


0-63 


0-52 



^ The Alcoholic strength of Beer has been taken at 5 per 
cent, for the United Kingdom and 4 per cent, elsewhere. Wine 
has been taken at 15 per cent, in the United Kingdom and the 
United States, 12 per cent, in Italj^, and 10 per cent, elsewhere, 
except that in Norway it is taken at 10 per cent, up to 1896, 
and 15 per cent, since. 

^ The Bulletin Russe de Statistique Flnancieve for February, 
1896, gives the average wine production of Eussia as 3,500,000 
hectols. (77,000,000 gallons) ; the imports are approximately 
2,000,000 gallons per annum. This would give a per capita 
consumption of approximately "6 of a gallon of wine through- 
out the country. 



614 



THE TE^IPERANCE PROBLEM 



II. United Kingdom and the Colonies. 



Countries. 


Wine. 


! 
Beer. \ 


Spirits (50 per 
cent, alcohol), j 


Absolute 
Alcohol.i 




Years. 


Gallons. 


Years. 


Gallons. 


Years. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


United 














, 


Kingdom 


1894-8 


0-39 


1894-8 


30-60 


1894-8 


1-00 


2-08 


Western Aus- 
















tralia . . . 


• 5 


1-28 


1896-8 


23-27 


}5 


202 ' 


: 2-32 


South. Austra- 
















lia (Northern 
















^Territory) . 


1893-7 


0-37 


1893-7 


2-66 


1893-7 


2-38 . 


, 1-36 


Victoria . . 


J? 


1-50 


j» 


12-46 


1894-7 


0-79 , 


1-19 


Queensland . 


1894-8 


0-49 


1894-8 


11-04 


1894-8 


0-93 


j 1-07 


Cape of Good 














, 


Hope . . . 


,, 


216 


5? 


1-58 


5) 


114 


1 0-91 


New South 
















Wales. . . 




0-68 


„ 


9-28 


55 


0-73 


0-90 


New Zealand. 


55 


014 


5 • 


7-86 


5) 


0-65 


1 0-73 


South. Austra- 
















lia (except 














1 


Nor t hi em 
















Territory-) . 


No Ee 


turns 


1895-7 


8-86 


1893-7 


0-37 


1 0-63 


Tasmania . . 


1894-8 


010 


1894-8 


7-22 


1894-8 


0-39 


, 0-56 


Canada , . . 


)) 


009 


)) 


3-56 


5) 


0-68 


0-52 


Natal . . . 


}) 


0-07 


55 


0-36 


5) 


0-36 


0-20 


Newfoundland 


1891 


0-04 


1891 


0-11 


1891 


0-37 


0-19 



^ The alcoholic strength of Beer has been taken at 5 per cent, 
for both the United Kingdom and the Colonies, and that of 
Wine at 15 per cent, for the United Kingdom and 12 per cent, 
for the Colonies. 



APPENDICES 



6i.^ 



THE NATIONAL DEINK BILL. 

Estimated expenditure per head on Alcoholic Liquors, from 
1837 to 1899 inclusive.! 





£ s. d. 




£ s. 


d. 




£ s. d. 


1837 . 


. 3 2 8i 


1858 . 


. 3 


2| 


1879 . 


. 3 15 


1838 . 


. 3 3 Oi 


1859 . 


. 3 3 


1| 


1880 . 


. 3 10 11 


1889 . 


. 3 1 5i 


1860 . 


. 2 18 


Oi 


1881 . 


. 3 12 3 


1840 . 


.304 


1861 . 


. 3 5 


7 


1882 . 


. 3 12 


1841 . 


. 2 12 4| 


1862 . 


. 3 


10 


1883 . 


. 3 10 5 


1842 . 


. 2 8 5| 


1863 . 


. 3 2 


7 


1884 . 


. 3 10 3 


1843 . 


. 2 9 64 


1864 . 


. 3 9 


10 


1885 . 


. 3 7 10 


1844 . 


. 2 12 If 


1865 . 


. 3 11 


3 


1886 . 


. 3 6 10 


1845 . 


. 2 12 101 


1866 . 


. 3 15 


9 


1887 . 


.373 


1846 . 


. 2 18 7 


1867 . 


. 3 12 


7 


1888 . 


.368 


1847 . 


. 2 10 9| 


1868 . 


. 3 14 


1 


1889 . 


. 3 9 11 


1848 . 


. 2 13 8i 


1869 . 


. 3 13 





1890 . 


. 3 13 


1849 . 


. 2 16 3| 


1870 . 


. 3 16 


1 


1891 . 


. 3 15 


1850 . 


. 2 19 64 


1871 . 


. 3 19 


1 


1892 . 


. 3 13 11 


1851 . 


. 2 19 4J 


1872 . 


. 4 2 


8 


1893 . 


. 3 12 3 


1852 . 


. 3 94 


1873 . 


. 4 7 


8 


1894 . 


. 3 11 64 


1853 . 


.3 1 104 


1874 . 


. 4 7 


2 


1895 . 


. 3 12 9i 


1854 . 


. 2 17 3| 


1875 . 


. 4 7 


3 


1896 . 


. 3 15 6 


1855 . 


. 2 10 74 


1876 . 


. 4 9 





1897 . 


. 3 16 51 


1856 . 


. 2 18 54 


1877 . 


. 4 4 


10 


1898 . 


. 3 17 74 


1857 . 


. 3 54 


1878 . 


. 4 4 


1 


1899 . 


. 3 19 114 



! Dr. Dawson Burns, Alliance Neivs, March 1st, 1900. 



EXPENDITURE UPON DRINK. 
Summary of weekly expenditure upon drink classified ac- 
cording to trades. 

Average of Different Trades. 



Trade. 



Charcoal Makers 

Stores (General) 

Cocoa Factories ..... 

Cloth Mills 

Chair Factory 

Confectioners 

Cotton Mills 

Book-binders 

Worsted Mills 

Box-makers 

Boot and Shoe Trades . . . 

Machine Makers 

Cutlery and File Makers . . 
Agricultural Labourers . . 
Railway Labourers .... 

Dyers 

Meatmarket (Smithfield) . . 
Leather Workers and Tanners 

Coach-builders , 

Brass and Iron Workers . . , 

Cabinet Makers , 

Glass-works , 

Chemical Works , 

Brick and Tile Works . , . , 

Lace Factories , 

Hosiery and Gloves 

Straw Hat Factory 

Optical Instrument Makers 

Collieries 

Builders and Contractors. . . 
Wire and Galvanising Works . 
Engineering Trades. . . . . 

Oil Mills 

Lime and Cement Works. . . 

Silversmiths 

Saw Alills 

Safe and Lock Makers . . . . 
Printers and Compositors . . 
Foundries and Forges . . , . 
Provision Warehouses. . . . 

Painters 

Dock Workers (Albert Docks) , 
Felt Hat Factory 



Number of men 


Average "Weekly 


Eeported on. 


Expenditure. 




s. d. 


80 


1 0^ 


144 


1 0^ 


92 


1 6 


45 


1 6 


92 


1 9 


168 


1 m 


200 


2 


58 


2 2 


12 


2 3 


183 


2 3| 


850 


2 3| 


87 


2 4 


257 


2 8h 


71 


2 9i 


48 


2 9| 


400 


2 111 


9 


3 


809 


3 n 


53 


3 3i 


271 


3 5J 


161 


3 bh 


32 


3 6i 


90 


3 li 


60 


3 8f 


381 


3 8| 


794 


8 9 


6 


3 10 


55 


3 11 


617 


4 IJ 


254 


4 2i 


350 


4 2i 


1,696 


4 4i 


26 


4 5i 


12 


4 6^ 


35 


5 


47 


5 0^ 


320 


5 Oh 


50 


5 1 


1,038 


5 n 


164 


5 lOi 


20 


6 H 


8 


8 4i 


18 


8 9 



cue 



APPENDICES 617 

EXPENDITURE OF WORKING MEN ON DRINK. 

Supplementary Evidence. 

In his recently published volume on Prisons and 
P}nsoners^ the Rev. J. W. Horsley gives particulars of a 
number of cases of heavy drink expenditures coming under 
his own notice as a prison chaplain. We select a few of the 
least striking cases : — 

*^ Gasfitter, 19, earns Id, an hour, scores 8s. a week." 

" Man, who scores 15s. a week, in prison for beating his 
wife, and his wife in for breaking the windows of a 
publican who would serve him in spite of her remon- 
strance." 

'' Gas-stoker, 32, earns £1 17s. 6(7., spends 2s. 4(7. in 
lodging, 8s. in food, 4(7. in washing, the rest mainly 
in drink, and is always run out of money by 
Tuesday." 

" Felt-maker, earns 17s., wife earns 8s. as carpet-bag 
maker ; they have regularly five pints a day, and ten 
on Saturdays and Sundays." 

" A leather- worker, aged 60, in for begging, has aver- 
aged six or seven pints a day for forty years, never 
drunk ; is astonished when I show him he has spent 
over £730 in beer." 

'' Stevedore, aged 21, earns 34s., and is always in work, 
yet has no second coat to his back, gives 12s. to his 
parents for his keep, and spends the rest in beer." 

The following statements made by Mr. J. R. Roberts, 
Clerk to the Justices for the City and County of Newcastle- 
on-Tyne, in the course of his evidence before the Royal 
Commission on Liquor Licensing Laws (July 28th, 189G\ 
are also suggestive in this connection : — 

Question (Chairman, Viscount Peel). '' You were going 
to give an instance of the evil of the prolongation of hours 
during which the long bars are open ? " Ansivcr. ^' Yes ; 



6i8 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

if you take the Elswick Works, they are now employing over 
15,000 hands. There is one house I know that is situated 
nearly opposite the entrance to those works, or one of the 
departments. The works open at six o'clock in the morning, 
and a bell is rung for a few minutes, during which the men 
enter the works. This house is open exactly at six. You 
will find as many as 50 to 100 men all standing at 
the door ; directly the door is opened they all rush in, and 
their glasses of spirits are all arranged on the counter. 
They toss off a glass of spirits, and go straight in to their 
work. At six o'clock in the morning, at the same moment 
that these men are going in, the night-shift men come out, 
and they fill these and other houses in the neighbourhood." 

Question. '' What is mostly consumed at that hour — beer 
or spirits?" Answer. ''Spirits." 

Question. " With reference to those men who are going 
in — not the night-shift men, but the men coming in — what 
would be their habits at home — would they have breakfast 
before they left home, or something to eat ? " Ansicer. '' I 
cannot tell. I should think they have to come some dis- 
tance, some of them, and, possibly, if their domestic arrange- 
ments were not very good, they might come without their 
breakfast. I know a good deal of time is lost at the different 
works." 

Question. ''It is very difficult for you to estimate it, but 
have the police observed a great number of cases of drunken- 
ness in the immediate neighbourhood of this bar, which you 
speak of as immediately outside the great works ? " 
Answer. " I have heard from the police that they have 
known men who have gone with the intention of going to 
work never having done so, owing to their going into this 
place." 



APPENDICES 619 



EXPENDITURE ON DRINK IN WORKMEN'S CLUBS. 

The following particulars are also of value as an illustra- 
tion of the large consumption of liquor in workmen's clubs. 
The particulars relate to a club in a northern town with a 
population of 70,000, and the figures are for the six months 
ended December 31st, 1897 :— 

Population of district in which club is ) ^ qqq 

situate ..... j ' 

Total Number of Members . . . 360 

Average Attendance of Members on ) oqo 

Sundays j 

Amount received for drink only dur- 1 

ing the six months ended Decern- \ £1,250 Is. lid. 

ber 31st, 1897 . . . . ) 

Total Receipts of Club durinor same \ n-i A^n -in a^ 
period . . . . . 1^^'^^^ ^^'•^^• 



"INTEMPERATE" CONSUMPTION OF BEER AND 
SPIRITS IN ENGLAND AND WALES. 

Mr. Dudley Baxter's Estimate. 

According to Mr. Dudley Baxter's estimate, the temperate 
consumption of beer and spirits in England and Wales in 
1869 was as follows : — Upper and middle classes : thirty- 
five gallons of beer per head ; half a gallon of diluted spirits. 
Manual labour class : twenty gallons of beer per head ; half 
a gallon of diluted spirits. 

Now, assuming every member of the population to have 
been a temperate consumer of alcohol in that year, the total 



620 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

amount of temperate consumption in England and Wales 
would have been as follows : — 

Total No. of ^oi^X Temperate 

Pavc^-r^o Consumption of :— 

n]S^ Seer Spirits 

USbyj. (Gallons). (Gallons). 

Upper and middle classes 5,098,000 ^ 178,430,000 2,549,000 

Working classes . . . 17,067,000^ 341,340,000 8,533,500 

22,165,0002 519,770,000 11,082,500 

But the actual consumption of beer and spirits in England 
and Wales in 1869 was as follows : — 

Gallons. 
Beer 770,000,000 ^ 

Gallons. 

British Spirits 11,400,000 

Foreign and Colonial Spirits 6,538,000 * 



17,938,000 



So that, according to Mr. Dudley Baxter, no less than 
250,230,000 gallons of heev^ or 32 per cent, of the total con- 
sumption, and 6,855,500 gallons of spirits, or 38 per cent, 
of the total consumption, must have represented intemperate 
consumption in 1869. 

Again, the figures of temperate consumption represent a 



* These proportions are worked out on the estimate adopted by- 
Mr. Baxter in another of his works (see National Income, p. 16), 
where he assumes that the labouring classes in 1867 formed 77 
per cent, of the total population. 

2 The total population of England and Wales in 1869 was 
22,164,847. 

^ The total quantity of malt retained for consumption as beer 
in England and Wales in 1869 was 42,783,130 bushels. Accord- 
ing to the Excise estimate of two bushels of malt to a barrel of 
beer, this would give a total consumption of 770,096,340 gallons. 

* Assuming that 80 per cent, of the imported spirits were 
consumed in England and Wales. Only a small proportion of 
imported spirits is consumed in Scotland and Ireland. 



APPENDICES 621 

total expenditure^ of £50,065,250, whereas the actual ex- 
penditure upon drink in England and Wales in that year 
was upwards of £75,688,000, so that the amount expended 
upon intemperate consumption in 1869 must have been 
upwards of £25,600,000. Assuming that two-thirds of this 
amount was spent by the working classes, and one-third by 
the upper and middle classes, the expenditure of the working 
classes in England and Wales on beer and spirits in 1869 
would be as follows : — 

Total Temperate Expenditure of working 
classes on beer and spirits in 1869 on Mr. 
Dudley Baxter's estimate of temperate con- 
sumption £34,134,000 

Total Intemperate Expenditure of working 
classes on beer and spirits in 1869 {i.e. two- 
thirds of cost of intemperate consumption, 
as shown above) 17,066,666 



Total expenditure £51,200,666 

Dividing this sum among 3,413,386 families (representing 
17,066,932 persons), we get an average annual expenditure 
for each working-class family of £15 per year, of 5s. 9Jd. per 
week. 

^ Eeckoning- the retail cost of beer at lif. M. per gallon, and 
spirits at 20s. per gallon. 



622 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



INCREASED CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOL IN 
PRANCE. 

With regard to the great increase in late years of the con- 
sumption of alcohol in France, the following statement is 
abbreviated from the remarks made by the Commission 
appointed by the French Chamber to inquire into the ques- 
tion and report thereon.^ In the year 1830 the consumption 
in France was 1 litre 12 centilitres of pure alcohol per head 
of population ; in 1873 the quantity had risen to 2 litres 59 
centilitres per head, and in 1885 still further to 3 litres 85 
centilitres. In 1891 the consumption oi pure alcohol reached 
4 litres 56 centilitres per head. In 1895 it had fallen to 4 
litres 07 centilitres. The Commissioners, however, appear 
to doubt whether this decrease is genuine, and they 
attribute the apparent falling off in a great measure to spirit 
put on the market by fraudulent means, of which, from the 
nature of the case, no account exists. The average strength 
of the spirit sold retail in France is, the Commissioners state, 
37'5 degrees, and it follows that the consumption, without 
distinction of age or sex, was, in the year 1891, 12 litres 16 
centilitres per head, or, if allowance be made for women and 
children and persons who but rarely drink, and if it be 
conceded, as some witnesses contend, that an eighth part only 
of the population are consumers of alcohol, then it will result 
that each of those persons who are consumers drinks 97 litres 
28 centilitres at 37*5 degrees of strength, or 3,791 glasses 
{pet its verres) in the year, or 10 J in the day. If the question 
of the consumption of alcohol be taken from another point of 
view, and on the assumption that only adult males in France 

^ " Rapport fait au nom de la commission du monopole de la 
rectification de I'alcool, chargee d'examiner la proposition de loi 
relative au monopole de la rectification de I'alcool, par M. 
Guillemet, depute." Seance du 19 Janvier, 1897. 



APPENDICES 620, 



o 



drink spirit, it will be found that in 1893 the number of 
electors (who must be adult males) was 10,443,000, or 27-5 
of the aggregate population. Each of these, then, drinks five 
glasses {petits verves) a day ; and this quantity, it should be 
remarked, is exclusive of any spirit clandestinely made by 
small growers which escapes taxation and official notice. In 
the face of these facts it becomes possible, the Commissioners 
remark, " to understand the dismay of moralists in view of 
these millions of glasses of poison daily served out to the 
French population." 

The greater part of the spirit drunk is consumed in the 
departments of the north and north-west of France, where it 
is produced. Thus, in 1894, the consumption per head in 
the Seine-Inferieure was 13 litres 21 centilitres of pure 
alcohol ; in the Somme 10 litres 09 centilitres ; while further 
south in La Vendee the consumption only reached 84 cen- 
tilitres. In the departments of the north-west it is stated 
^' that the daily consumption of alcohol absorbs half the 
average salary of the ivorking population.^^ — Board of 
Trade Eeturn, No. 408, 1897. 



AVERAGE INCOME OF THE WORKING CLASSES. 

In 1884-6, the aggregate national income — as the follow- 
ing figures will show — was between twelve and thirteen 
hundred millions : — 



Sir Louis Mallet, K.C.S.I. (1883-4) 

Professor Leone Levi (1885) . 

Professor A. Marshall (1885) '' upwards of '' 

Sir Robert Giffen (1886) 

Mr. Mulhall (1889) .... 



£ 

1,289,000,000 
1,274,000,000 
1,125,000,000 
1,270,000,000 
1,285,000,000 



Since then, however, the gross assessments to income tax 
have increased by about £80,000,000, and allowing for a 
corresponding increase in the incomes not assessed, we may 



624 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

assume that the present income of the nation is at least 
£1,400,000,000. Of this sum 42 per cent, may be said to 
belong to the working classes (Sir R. GriiFen, 43 per cent. ; 
Professor Marshall, 42 per cent. ; Professor Leone Levi, 41 
per cent. ; Mulhall, 37 per cent.), whose aggregate income, 
therefore, may be fixed at about £590,000,000. This sum 
distributed among 6,000,000 families would give an average 
family income of £1 17s. 6d. per week. These figures, of 
course, must only be taken as representing the nominal 
income of the working classes. The actual average income 
is probably much less. 

FOOD AND EFFICIENCY. 

In answer to the question as to what is the minimum quan- 
tity of food required for efficient subsistence, it may be said 
that the ordinary accepted standards are estimated in terms 
of the three most important classes of the nutritive ingre- 
dients or nutrients of food : (1) nitrogenous foods or pro- 
teids ; ^ (2) fats ; (3) carbo-hydrates.^ 

^ Proteids are essential for renewing the tissues of the body 
and are absolutely necessarj- to life. They are compounds 
of carbon, oxygen, and hj^drogen with nitrogen, but often 
associated with a little sulphur and phosphorus also. " Pro- 
teids are found in all animals used as food hy man ; and also 
in many productions of the vegetable kingdom — from which 
two sources the body can alone be supplied. We find the pro- 
teid element abundantly in lean meat, the muscle of animals, 
where it is known as ' myosin,' also in the blood and other parts 
as ' fibrin.' . . . Proteids are largely present in eggs, form- 
ing ' albumen,' or what is familiarly known as the ' white of 
eggs ' ; and in milk as ' casein,' the nitrogenous constituent of 
cheese. Again, in wheat, and existing therefore in bread, in 
smaller proportion, as ' gluten ' ; and in the leguminous seeds 
(peas and beans) abundantly, as ' legumin,' which is almost 
identical with ' casein.' " — Sir Henry Thompson, Food and 
Feeding, p. 22. 

^ Carbo-hydrates, although not absolutely essential to life like 



APPENDICES 625 

By comparing the amounts of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen 
and nitrogen, actually found by experiments to be consumed 
by different individuals, and also noting the amount and 
composition of the food of different people, estimates have 
been made of the quantities of the several nutrients required 
by individuals of different classes under various conditions. 

The best information on the subject comes from Germany, 
where elaborate observations and experiments have been 
made by Liebig, Moleschott, Pettenkofer, Voit and others. 
Payen in France, and Prankland, Playfair and others in 
England, have also made most valuable contributions to our 
knowledge of the subject. 

(a) Amount of Food required for Bare Subsistence. 

Speaking broadly, it may be said that the minimum 
amount of food on which the body can Uve^ but not do hard 
work, is 2\ oz. of nitrogenous food, 1 oz. of fat, 12 oz. of carbo- 
hydrates, and \ oz. of mineral salts per diem} The tceekly 
equivalent of this in ordinary foods would be 3 lb. of meat 
with 1 lb. of fat on it, or with the same quantity of butter or 
lard, two quartern loaves of bread, and about an ounce of 
salt and other condiments. For meat, if necessary, could be 
substituted two extra quartern loaves, or 21 lb. of potatoes, 
or between 5 and 6 lb. of oatmeal. This is, however, the 
diet of bare existence, and a person reduced to it could 
'' undertake no habitual toil, mental or bodily, under the 
penalty of breaking down."^ The cost of this diet for a 

the proteids, are most desirable elements of food. They are 
largely furnished by the vegetable kingdom, consisting chiefly 
of the starches of all grain, roots, and tubers, with the sugars 
and the gums ; in milk they exist as milk sugar, or " lactose." 

^ See Playfair, The Food of Man in Relation to his Useful 
Work, p. 9. 

2 " Bare existence " diet is allotted by the Home Office authori- 
ties to prisoners sentenced for short terms without hard labour. 
Under a sentence of seven days a prisoner gets dailj^ 1 lb. of 
bread and a quart of gruel containing 4 oz. of oatmeal. For 

40 



626 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

family of five persons would be from 7s. to 10s. per week, 
according as the diet consisted of bread only, or bread and 
meat in the proportion shown above. That is to say, a 
married man with a wife and three children would need to 
spend from seven to ten shillings a week to keep himself and 
his family from starvation.^ 

(b) Workhouse Diets. 

On a somewhat higher level than this, but one that is still 
below the standard of what we may call ejicient subsistence, 
are the dietaries allowed to indoor paupers. According to 
Mrs. Barnett,^ the regulation diet of the Whitechapel Work- 
house — an institution which stands high on the list for 
careful management and economical administration — is as 
follows : — Breakfast and supper — one pint of tea (made of one 
ounce of tea to a gallon of water) and five ounces of bread and 
a tiny bit of butter. For dinner the inmates have meat 
three times a week, pea-soup and bread twice, suet pudding 
once, and Irish stew on the other day. The total allowance 
'' comes only to 10 1 oz. of carbonaceous food and 2 J oz. of 
nitrogenous food, against the estimated quantity of 16 oz. 
carbonaceous and 4 oz. nitrogenous, which is the necessary 
allowance for ordinary people, and against the 25 oz. carbon- 
aceous and 5 oz. nitrogenous, which is the regulation diet of 
the Royal Engineers during peace. It is true that nese old 
folk do not need so much food, for their bodies have ceased to 
grow and develop, and in aged persons the wear of the frame 
does not require such replenishment as in the case with 
young and middle-aged people; but even with this partial 
diet we find that the cost of maintaining each of these old 

more than seven and under twenty-one days he has an extra 
4 lb. of bread. For longer terms it is advised to add potatoes 
and meat. 

^ It must be remembered that growing children, in whom 
tissue change is rapid, require more than a bare subsistence 
diet. 

2 Practicable /Socialism^ 2nd edition (1894), p. 20. 



APPENDICES 627 

people is, for food alone, 3s. lid. per head per week. Here, 
then, we have a fact on which a calculation is easy to make 
and which, when made, forces us to see that the workman 
cannot keep his family as well as the pauper is kept." 

But dismissing the question of the insufficiency in quan- 
tity and quality of the workhouse diet for an ordinary work- 
man, and assuming a family of five persons to be fed on the 
workhouse scale, the weekly food bill of the family would 
amount to 13s. dd. per week. Even this sum, however, would 
only allow each child one-half of the quantity of food con- 
sumed by an indoor pauper — a quantity that is manifestly 
insufficient. 1 

If we turn from Whitechapel—where the regime is ad- 
mittedly stringent — to St. Pancras, one of the most populous 
parishes in London, the figures are higher. By the courtesy 
of a member of the present Board of Gruardians we are able 
to append the most recent returns of food expenditure 
in the St. Pancras Workhouse. The dietary, although 
slightly better than that allowed at Whitechapel, is certainly 
not open to the charge of extravagance. The breakfast of 
the able-bodied consists of 5 oz. of bread and a pint of oat- 
meal porridge. For dinner they are allowed meat three times 
a week, meat-pie once, pea-soup and bread once, suet pudding 
once, and Irish stew on the remaining day. Supper consists 
of 5 oz. of bread and 1 pint of mutton broth, or the same 
quantity of bread with a pint of oatmeal porridge. In the 
case of the aged and infirm, a pint of tea is given in place of 
the oatmeal porridge, with the addition (for breakfast and sup- 
per) of half an ounce of butter. The actual cost per head for 
2,218 inmates (including 113 children) is As. l^d. per week. 

1 '' In youth food should be abundant. At this time the body 
is not only growing, but tissue change or metabolism is active, 
leading to vigorous life. . , . This energy and the necessary 
growth of the body cannot be maintained without an abundant 
food supply." — Diet in Sickness and in Health, by Mrs. Ernest 
Hart (with Introduction by Sir Henry Thompson), p. 53. 



628 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



St. Pancras Workhouse. 

Table showing the cost per head of the dietaries in force, 
March, 1899. 



Workhouses, Infirmary, Schools, and Boarded-out. 





Women, 


Children tinder 


Total. 


Weekly 


Men. 


2 years. 


9 years. 


16 years. 


Cost of 
Mainte- 




Infants. 


Boys. 


Girls. 


Boys. 


Girls. 


nance. 


893 


1212 


30 


Wo 

19 


RKHO 
20 


USE. 

7 


37 


2218 


S. d. 

4 li 


271 


200 


9 


In 
10 


FIRM 
17 


ARY. 
16 


13 


536 


7 3 


473 


__ 


__ 


St. a 


nne's 


Home. 





473 


3 6| 


_ 


_ 


L 


EA VE 

244 


SDEN 
110 


SCHO 

111 


OLS. 

131 


596 


4 3 


52 


10 


1 


Casu 


AL W 
1 


ARDS. 


_ 


64 










Trai 


ning 


Ship 


"Ex 
65 


mout 


H." 

65 


5 li 


— 


— 


— 


Bo 

17 


ARDE 
36 


D-OUT. 

22 


26 


101 


[3 
14 


1689 


1422 


40 


290 


184 


221 


207 


4053 





Taking therefore a family of five persons, and adopting the 
dietary standards of the St. Pancras Workhouse, the aggre- 
gate vi^eekly expenditure on food (assuming each child to be 
allowed one-half of the quantity allowed to an adult pauper) 
would amount to IQs. Id. per week. The dietary of the 
children in the Workhouse schools is, however, necessarily 
fixed on a more liberal scale, and the cost is proportionately 
higher, the average per capita cost for food in the case of 596 



APPENDICES 



629 



children^ being 4s. Bd. per week. If we assign the same 
diet to each of the workman's children, and assume the cost 
to be the same, the total food bill of the family would amount 
to 22s. per week. 



(c) Diet for ^' Moderate Labour y 

The exact amount of food required for efficient subsistence 
cannot be summarily stated, for the reason that physical 
constitutions refuse to conform to arbitrary standards, but 
the experiments of physiologists in many lands enable us to 
decide the point with at least approximate accuracy. Pro- 
fessor Voit, of the University of Munich, who has made 
more extensive researches upon this subject perhaps than 
any one else, computes that a fair daily ration for a labouring 
man of average weight, at moderate work, would need to 
supply 4*2 ounces (0*26 lb.) of proteids, 2 ounces (0-12 lb.) of 
fats, and 17-6 ounces (1-10 lb.) of carbo-hydrates. ^ Of 
course he may get on with less of one, provided he has more 
of the others. But there is a minimum below which he can- 



1 This number, it will be seen, includes 354 children of over 
two and under nine years of age, and 242 children of over 
nine and under sixteen years of age. 

2 These figures may be compared with the "General Aver- 
ages " given by Playfair in his essay on The Food of Man in 
Belation to Ms Useful Work (p. 19) :— 



Flesh-formers {i.e, 
Proteids) . . 
Fat .... . 
Starch .... 
Starch equivalent 
Carbon .... 



Subsist- 
ence Diet, 



oz. 



2-0 

0-5 

12-0 

13-2 

6-7 



Diet in 

quietude. 



2-5 

1-0 

12-0 

14-4 

7-4 



Diet of 
Adult 
in Full 
Health. 



oz. 

4-2 

1-8 

18-7 

220 

11-9 



Diet of 

Active 
Labourers 



2-5 
20-0 
2G-0 
13-7 



Diet of 
Hard- 
worked 
Labourers. 



6-5 

2-5 

20-0 

2G-0 

143 



630 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

not go without injury, and especially lie must not have too 
little protein. He may have more proteids and less carbo- 
hydrates or fats with no great harm, but with too little 
proteid he will suffer, no matter how much carbo-hj^drates 
his food may furnish. 

Professor Atwater, of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 
has published the results of a series of analyses made in the 
Government laboratory in behalf of the Smithsonian Institu- 
tion (U.S. National Museum), together with a list of 'Tood 
Budgets " for working people, constructed on the standard of 
nourishment adopted by Professor Voit.^ 

It is not proposed, says Professor Atwater, "that any 
person or family should attempt to follow these exactly. 
Por that matter the chemist will evidently have to consult 
the cook if he proposes to construct dietaries to accord with 
ordinary tastes." The rations, nevertheless, ^'help to show 
how foods may be economized, and what proportions would 
suffice for the nourishment of ordinary people, and what are 
the constituents and costs of the different materials. They 
are estimated to supply very nearly the amounts of nutrients 
in Voit's standard ration for a labouring man at moderate 
work." 2 

The diets given range in cost from eleven or twelve cents 
{bid. or 6d.) up to forty-five cents (Is. lO^d.) per day ; but for 
the purpose of the present inquiry a few of the cheapest have 
been selected. From these it appears that the minimum 
cost of the diet required by a labouring man of average 
weight at moderate work (adopting Prof. Voit's standards), 
would be in England from sixpence to sevenpence per day. 
This sum, however, as will be seen from the particulars given 
on pp. 631-2, allows of a drink diet of imfer only; tea, 

^ The budgets were calculated by Professor At water's as- 
sistant (Mr. Eookwood) and are published in the former's 
admirable treatise on The Chemistry and Economy of Foods, 
pp. 115 et seq. 

2 Ibid., p. 119. 



APPENDICES 



631 



coffee, and cocoa being all excluded. ^ But even on this scale 
of dietary the minimum food expenditure of a family of five 
persons {i.e. husband and wife and three children) would be 
from 12s. to 13s. Qd. per week ^ — a sum which, according to 
the estimate of Mr. Edward Atkinson,^ the well-known 
American economist, is exactly one-half of the amount 
actually spent by working-class families in the Eastern and 
Middle States of America, where the cost of food is less than 
in England. 



SPECIMEN DIETS. 

The following are a few of the daily rations suggested by 
Prof. Atwater in his essay on The Chemistry and Economy 
of Foods J to which reference has already been made. They 
are computed to furnish nutrients equivalent to those of 
the standard adopted by Prof. Voit for a labouring man at 
moderate work. 

Standard Kation.— Proteids (118 grams), 0*26 lb. ; fats 
(56 grams), 0*12 lb. ; carbo-hydrates (500 grams), 1*10 lb. 

Daily Rations. 



No. 1. 




Beef, neck . . . 


. \ lb. 


Beans 


. i ;, 


Potatoes .... 


. 2 „ 


Oatmeal .... 


• i. 


Butter 


. J oz. 


Rye flour .... 


. \ lb. 



No. 2. 

Smoked herrings . . . J lb. 

Potatoes 1 „ 

Beans J „ 

Wheat flour . . . . 1 „ 

Butter 1 oz. 



^ In a few cases a small quantity of milk is allowed. 

2 In this calculation the wife is assumed to require eight- 
tenths as much as her husband, while two children are 
reckoned as one adult— a basis of calculation which may be 
accepted as approximately reliable. 

^ The Food Question in America and, Eti rope, p. 35. 



6.^2 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



No. 3. 

Beef, shin h lb. 

Oatmeal -| „ 

Corn meal J „ 

Milk ipt. 

Potatoes 1 lb. 

Butter 1 oz. 



No. 4. 

Liver Hb. 

Potatoes 1 „ 

Butter 1 oz. 

Corn meal 1 lb. 

Bread ilb. 



No. 5. 

Fresh Mackerel J lb. 

Potatoes 1 ,, 

Cracked wheat J „ 

Corn meal ....,..,. J „ 

Beans J „ 

Butter 1 oz. 



A perhaps clearer suggestion is that afforded by the 
dietaries of European soldiers in time of peace. According 
to Dr. Parkes, the regulation diet of a British soldier on 
home 'service is 5J lb. of meat, and 7 lb. of bread weekly. 
This does not profess to be a sufficient diet, but is supple- 
mented by the soldier himself by the purchase of additional 
bread, vegetables, milk, and groceries out of his pay. 
Taking the price of meat at Id. per lb. and bread at 5c?. per 
4 lb. loaf, the actual pej' capita cost of the regulation diet 
{Lc. bread and meat alone) is ds. lOd. per week, or for a 
family of five persons (reckoning two children as one adult) 
12s. Sd. per week. Such a diet is said to be " sufficient 
for anybody under ordinary circumstances of regular light 
occupation ; but should extra demands be made upon mind 
or body, weight is lost, and if the demands continue to be 
made the health will suffer." 

The daily ration of an American soldier (said to be the 
most generous in the world) is 22 oz. of bread or flour ; 20 
oz. of fresh or salt meat ; 7 oz. of potatoes {i.e. 16 oz. 
three times a week) ; IJ oz. of rice ; 1 J oz. of coffee (or J oz. 



APPENDICES 633 

of tea) ; 2 J oz. of sugar ; | of a gill of beans ; J of a gill of 
vinegar ; and -16 of an oz. of salt. The cost of this diet at 
English prices for a family of five persons would be 22s. 2d. 
per week. 

Another estimate that may be quoted is that furnished 
by Dr. Meinert in his brochure entitled Wie ndhrt man 
sicli gut undhilUgf^ — (''How to feed oneself well and 
economically ? ") — an essay that was honoured with a prize 
awarded by a committee consisting of Professors Voit 
Porster, and Beneke, three of the best known G-erman 
authorities on the subject. In this essay Dr. Meinert gives 
three schedules of food expenditure for families whose 
annual incomes vary from 800 marks (£40) to 1,500 marks 
(£75). In the case of the lowest of these incomes (£40), he 
allowed a total expenditure of 60 per cent, for food. In the 
case of the highest (£75), he allowed an expenditure of 53 
per cent, for food.^ 

We will take the latter estimate for our present inquiry. 
It refers, it will be noticed, to a family whose total income 
averages 29s. per week. The dietary selected by Dr. Meinert 
was calculated for a family consisting of father, mother, and 
two children aged ten and twelve years respectively — the 
mother and two children being taken as equal in their 
consumption to two labouring men. Dr. Meinert further 
assumed that to earn so large a sum as £75 per year, or 29s. 
a week, more than ordinarily hard work would be required, 
and hence, following Professor Voit's figures, he provided a 
ration with nutrients a little in excess of the standard for a 
labourino; man at moderate work.^ The average cost of the 



^ Quoted by Professor At water, The Chemistry and Economy 
of Foods, ^^. 109-114. 

^ This proportion, it should be noted, corresponds verj^ closely 
to the proportions recognised by Engel in his standards of 
necessary food expenditure for working class families. 

^ Professor Voit's standards for an ordinary labouring man 
doing moderately hard work, and for the same man at severe 



634 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



ration actually allowed was 220 pfennings {2s. 2|d.) per day, 
or, reckoning tlie family as three adults, 73 pfennings (8|d.) 
per head. Assuming the family to have consisted of five 
persons {i.e. father, mother, and three children) instead of 
four as suggested by Dr. Meinert, the actual expenditure 
on food would, on the basis adopted in the previous cases , 
amount to 17s. |9er iceek. 

This estimate is curiously confirmed by an analysis of the 
food expenditure of more than 200 working men (living in 
an American boarding house for working men) made by the 
Massachusetts State Bureau of Labour Statistics in 1886.^ 
The particulars of the diet are appended, and cover the 
food consumption of 237 men (all labourers) for thirty-nine 
weeks. The average cost per man for the whole period 
was $1'30 (5s. 4d.) per week. Now assuming, as we have 
hitherto done, that an ordinary working woman requires 
eight-tenths, and a child five-tenths, as much as a working 
man, the weekly cost of this diet for a family of five persons 
(making no allowance for the relatively higher cost of food 
in England) would be 17s. Id. 

work are stated below, and with them Dr. Meinert's standard 
for the family in question. 

Nutrients in Daily Ration. 





Professor Yoit's Standards, 


Dr. Meinert's 

Standard tor 

family with 

1,500 marks 

per year. 


Nutrients. 


For labouring man 
at moderate work. 


For labouring 

man at 
severe work. 


Proteids . . . 
Fats .... 
Carbo-hydrates 


118 grams. (0-26 lb.) 

56 ., (0-12 lb.) 

500 ;, (1-10 lb.) 


145 grams. 
100 „ 
450 „ 


120 grams. 
70 „ 
BOO „ 



^ See Seventeenth Annual Heport of^the Bureau of Statistics 
of Labour, Massachusetts. 



APPENDICES 



635 



Table SHOwiNa the Food Consumption of 237 Working 
Men in an American Boarding-house during a period 
OF 39 weeks. 



Food. 


Total for 237 men. 


Average one man per 
week. 


Beans 

Beef 

Butter 

Coffee 

Dried Apples . . . 

Fish 

Flour 

Molasses 

Mutton 

Onions 

Peas 

Pork 

Potatoes 

Eice 

Salt 

Tea 

Turnips 

Vinegar 

Milk 


118 bushels 
19,683 lb. 
8,121 „ 
370 „ 
1,716 „ 
2,550 „ 

534 barrels 

2,272 gallons 

2,840 lb. 

81 bushels 

98 „ 

250 barrels 

1,842 bushels 

787 „ 
2,925 lb. 
600 „ 
31 bushels 
262 gallons 
2,821 quarts 


•012 bushel 
2-12 lb. 
•878 „ 
•04 „ 
•185 „ 
•275 „ 
•057 barrel 
•245 gallon 
•307 lb. 
•008 bushel 
•01 

•027 barrel 
•199 bushel 
•085 „ 
•316 lb. 
•064 „ 
•003 bushel 
•028 gallon 
•305 quart 



Eel ATI VE Cost of Food in Europe and America. 

" The price of bread is lower in England than anywhere 
else ; next in the United States and Belgium, and, finally, 
highest in France and Germany. The kind and quality of 
flour used is by no means the same, so that to obtain an 
equal amount of nourishment a much larger sum must be 
spent in the Continental countries than in Great Britain and 
the United States. The average prices of the meats which find 
their way to the working man's table, without reference to 
kind, figures out 23 per cent, more in Germany, 47 per cent, 
more in Belgium, 50 per cent, more in Great Britain, and 
52 per cent, more in France than in the United States. 
Potatoes cost 3 per cent, more in Great Britain, 19 per cent. 



6c>6 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



'yj 



more in France than in the United States ; but 30 per 
cent, and 50 per cent, respectively less in Belgium and 
Germany. Butter is 4 per cent, dearer in Great Britain, 
9 per cent, dearer in Belgium, 22 per cent, dearer in Ger- 
many, and 35 per cent, dearer in France than in the United 
States. Sugar in England is only half the price it was in 
the United States before 1890 ; but the same article is 19 per 
cent, more in Germany, 51 per cent, more in Belgium, and 
84 per cent, more in France. Coffee costs 13 per cent, 
more in Belgium, 19 per cent, more in Germany, 40 per cent, 
more in Great Britain, and 67 per cent, more in France than 
in the United States. Lard and eggs form no exception to 
the general rule. It is impossible to escape the conclusion 
that, with the prevailing prices of provisions so preponder- 
atingly in favour of the American labourer, and seeing that 
his family is smaller, his larger absolute expenditure means 
unquestionably that he and his kind are better nourished." — 
Dr. E. R. L. Gould, Contemporary EevieiVj January, 1893. 



RELATION OF INTEMPERANCE TO PAUPERISM, 
INSANITY AND CRIME. 

In discussing the social and economic results of intem- 
perance, it is impossible to leave out of consideration the 
relation which intemperance bears to pauperism, insanity 
and crime. 

I. Pauperism. 

That there is an intimate connection between intemperance 
and pauperism is indisputable, but the extent and directness 
of the connection is still matter for conjecture. 

One of the most important of the few systematic attempts 
to investigate the relation of intemperance to pauperism in 
this country was that undertaken by a Committee of the 
Lower House of Convocation of the province of Canterbury 
in 1869. In the course of an exhaustive inquiry (which 
sought to discover the part which intemperance plays in the 



APPENDICES 637 

production of insanity and crime as well as pauperism) forms 
of inquiry were transmitted to the Governors and Chaplains 
of Prisons, and Heads of the Constabulary throughout Great 
Britain; to the Superintendents of Lunatic Asylums in 
England and Wales ; and to the Judges, the Eecorders, the 
Coroners, and the Masters of Workhouses throughout Eng- 
land. In summing up the evidence obtained on the subject 
of pauperism, the Committee state : — '' From an extensive 
and minute inquiry prosecuted by your Committee through- 
out the workhouses of the country — as well as from other 
authenticated statements — it can be shown that an enormous 
proportion of the pauperism which is felt to be such a 
burden and discouragement by the industrious and sober 
members of the community, and has such a degrading and 
demoralizing effect upon most recipients of parochial relief, is 
the direct and common product of intemperance. It appears, 
indeed, that at least seventy-five per cent, of the occupants of 
our workhouses, and a large proportion of those receiving 
outdoor pay, have become pensioners on the public, directly 
or indirectly, through drunkenness, and the improvidence and 
absence of self-respect which this pestilent vice is known to 
engender and perpetuate. The loss of strength and wealth 
to the country, the increase of taxation, the deterioration of 
national character thus produced, it is at once humiliating 
and irritating to contemplate." ^ 

In the appendix to their Report, the Committee publish the 
replies received from one hundred and nineteen '^ Governors " 
(or masters) of workhouses, giving the proportion of cases of 
pauperism coming within their jurisdiction due, directly or 
indirectly, to drink. The proportion given varies, it is need- 
less to say, in different districts, and, in any case, is to be 
accepted only as an approximate estimate based upon general 
observation and ordinary official experience ; but it is signifi- 
cant that in hardly a single instance does the estimate fall 



^ Report by the Committee on Intemperance for the Lower 
House of Convocation of the Province of Canterbury, pp. 0, 10. 



638 THE TEINIPERANCE PROBLEM 

below a proportion of one-half, while in the great majority 
of cases, the estimate given varies from two-thirds to eight- 
tenths. 

Mr. Charles Booth, as the result of his analysis of the 
statistics of pauperism in the Stepney, St. Pancras, and 
Ashby-de-la-Zouch Unions, gives figures which suggest a 
very much smaller percentage. In analysing, for example, 
the stories of between six and seven hundred persons in the 
Stepney workhouse institutions who were "actually in re- 
ceipt of relief on April 30th, 1889," Mr. Booth found that 
drink stood as " principal cause " in 80 out of 634 cases, or 
12-6 per cent., whilst as " contributory cause " it appeared in 
85 more, " chiefly in connection with sickness and old age as 
principal cause." Altogether, only 25 per cent, are returned 
as affected by drink. "This proportion," says Mr. Booth, 
''is less than might have been expected, and it is probable 
that closer research into the circumstances and history of 
these people, if it could be made, might disclose a greater 
connection than here appears between pauperism and the 
public-house." 

In the case of the St. Pancras inquiry, the basis of inves- 
tigation was somewhat different, no account being taken of 
those who had been permanently in receipt of relief for at 
least two years, nor of some other " old stagers " as to whom 
detailed knowledge had lapsed. The inquiry was, in point 
of fact, entirely confined to cases of " current pauperism " in 
the workhouse itself. The figures for Stepney, on the other 
hand, include the infirm and sick as well as the able-bodied, 
and all except quite a few old cases. 

The figures for St. Pancras — which are based on the 
answers given by the relieving officers to questions put as to 
the previous history of the inmates admitted by their order 
between June 1st, 1888, and December 31st, 1889— show 
that out of 736 cases drink was the "principal or obvious 
cause "in no fewer than 161, or 21*9 per cent., and a "con- 
tributory cause " in 46 others. 

In the case of Ashby»de-la-Zouch the figures were very 



APPENDICES 639 

similar. Out of 77 cases where the cause of pauperism was 
given, drink was assigned as the cause in 16, or nearly 21 
per cent. 

In estimating the true value of these figures, and especially 
in comparing them with the estimates given by experienced 
poor-law workers and public officials, it is necessary to re- 
member that the information upon which they are based does 
not, as Mr. Booth himself admits, go much beyond proxi- 
mate causes. " No elaborate research or analysis has been 
attempted. The stories have been taken as they were found ; 
where drink appears to occupy the first place, it has its big 
^ D ' ; and where it is mentioned, but in a secondary way, it 
has its little ' d ' ; and if it is not mentioned at all, it is 
assumed (no doubt often erroneously) that as a cause of 
pauperism it has not been present. Of drink in all its com- 
binations, adding to every trouble, undermining every effort 
after good, destroying the home and cursing the young lives 
of the children, the stories tell enough. It does not stand as 
apparent chief cause in as many cases as sickness or old age, 
but if it were not for drink, sickness and old age could be 
better met. Drink must, therefore, be accounted the most 
prolific of all the causes ; and it is the least necessary." 1 

A somewhat similar inquiry to that undertaken by Mr. 
Booth was made in Manchester in 1883 by Mr. Alexander 
M'Dougall, Vice-Chairman of the Manchester Board of 
Guardians. In prosecuting his inquiry, Mr. M'Dougall very 
properly declined to base his conclusions upon the informa- 
tion gathered by the Relieving Ofl&cers for the guidance of the 
Guardians, on the ground that such particulars chiefly relate 
to the circumstances of applicants at the time of asking for 
relief, and give very little information as to their previous 
history. He adopted instead a scheme of careful personal 
investigation which allowed him to trace the actual ante- 
cedents of each case separately. Particulars were taken of 

* C. Booth, Pauperism and the Endowment of Old Age, 



640 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

254 cases, of which. 120 were outdoor cases (chosen, with the 
assistance of the Relieving Officers, from three separate dis- 
tricts), and 100 indoor cases taken from the workhouse and 
hospital at Crumpsall. The balance was made up of cases 
in the lock and vagrant wards. The results of the inquiry 
(which were published by the Board of Guardians in January, 
1884),^ showed that " 51*24 per cent, of the pauperism of the 
township was directly caused by drinking habits," while it 
established the further fact '' that of the paupers whose 
poverty was certainly brought about by drink, a larger 
number were of families of skilled workmen than of families 
of unskilled labourers." The full classification of the cases 
was as follows : — 

Per cent. 
Class 1. — Pauperism caused by old age or infirmity . 14-86 
Class 2. — Pauperism caused by disease (not brought on 

by misconduct) or by accidental injuries 15*62 
Class 3. — Pauperism caused through the head of the 
family being unable to find employment, 

though willing to work 2*78 

Class 4. — Pauperism caused by idleness or thriftless- 
ness apart from drunken or immoral 

habits — 

Class 5. — Pauperism caused by drunkenness in men 24*32 
Class 6. — Pauperism caused by drunkenness in icomen 4*40 
Class 7. — Widows and children of drunkards . . . 21*84 
Class 8. — Widows and children — husbands having 

been well conducted 15*30 

Class 9. — Widows of well-conducted husbands who 
have drunken sons^ ivho could support 

them if steady "68 

Class 10. — Women reduced to pauperism by immoral 

conduct — not drunkards '20 



100*00 



^ Inquiry into the Causes of Pauperism in the Township oj 

Manchester, by Alexander M'Dougall. 



APPENDICES 64 f 

Further information on the subject is furnished by the 
investigations undertaken at the instance of the State Legis- 
lature by the Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics of Labour 
in 1894-5.1 

Out of 3,230 paupers — this being the total number found 
in the State institutions during twelve consecutive months 
{i.e. August 20th, 1894, to August 20th, 1895),— 2,108, or 
65*26 per cent., were found to be addicted to the use of liquor. 
The excessive drinkers numbered 505, or 15*63 per cent, of 
all the paupers. The total abstainers numbered 866, or 
26*81 per cent. Of the total abstainers, however, 429 were 
minors, 281 being under ten years of age. There were also 
31 minors addicted to the use of liquor. Excluding all the 
minors, whether total abstainers or not, we have 2,752 
paupers of adult years, of whom 2,077, or 75*47 per cent, 
were addicted to the use of liquor, including 504 excessive 
drinkers and 1,573 drinkers not classed as excessive. Of 
the whole number of paupers, 47*74 per cent, had one or both 
parents intemperate. The results of the inquiry are summed 



^ The section of the Act (chap. 332 of the Acts of 1894) 
authorising the investigation was as follows : — 

" The bureaii of statistics of labour is hereby directed to 
ascertain, from all sources available, facts and statistics show- 
ing the number of commitments to all institutions, penal and 
charitable, resulting from the use or abuse of intoxicating 
liquors; the number of crimes committed by persons while 
under the influence of intoxicating liquors ; the number of 
crimes of each class thus committed; the number of paupers 
whose present condition can be traced to the use or abuse of 
intoxicating liquors by themselves or by their parents, 
guardians, or others ; the number of persons who have been 
pronounced insane, and whose condition can be traced to the 
use or abuse of intoxicating liquors by themselves, their ances- 
tors, or by others ; and in general, such other data as will tend 
to show the relation of the liquor traffic to crime, pauperism, 
and insanity in this commonwealth, and the period of time to 
be covered by this investigation shall include not less than 
twelve successive months." 

41 



642 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



up in the following statement. Of the total number of 
adult paupers, nearly 40 per cent. (39-44) attributed their 
pauperism to their own intemperate habits ; about 5 per 
cent, attributed it to the intemperance of their parents, one 
or both ; and about 1 per cent, attributed it to the intemper- 
ance of those upon whom they were dependent, other than 
parents.^ 

It may be interesting to add that of the whole number 
addicted to the use of liquor, 25, or about 1 per cent., used 
wines only; 417, or about 20 per cent., used lager beer or 
malt liquors only ; 38, or not quite 2 per cent., used distilled 
liquors only ; and 1,628, or about 77 per cent., used all kinds, 
or at least two kinds, of liquor. 

Summary. 

The relation which these estimates bear to one another 
will be more clearly seen if we briefly summarise them. 
This is done in the following table : — 



Investigation undertaken 
by. 



1, Committee of the 

Lower House of 
Convocation, 
Canterbury. 

2. Mr. Charles Booth 



3. Mr. Alex. M'Don- 

gall 

4. Massachusetts 

State Bureau of 
Labour Statis- 
tics 



Number of Cases 
Investigated. 



/ 119 Workhouses, 
> etc. , England and 
\ Wales . . . 

634 (Stepney) . 

736 (St. Pancras) 
r 77 (Ashby-de-la 
1 Zouch) . . 

[ 254 (Manchester) 



2,752 



(Massachu- 
setts) 



Percentage of Cases 

attributable (directly or 

indirectly) to Drink. 



75 

25 

28 

21 
51 

45 



It is obviously impossible to draw any but the most 
general conclusions from investigations of this kind. They 

^ Tioenty-sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Statistics 
of Labour {Massachusetts) 1896. 



APPENDICES 



643 



cannot in the nature of the case give us more than approxi- 
mate results, but they suffice to justify Mr. Charles Booth's 
statement that "drink must be accounted the most prolific of 
all the causes [of pauperism] ; and it is the least necessary." 



II. Insanity. 

The relationship which intemperance bears to insanity, 
although still, to some extent, matter for speculation, is 
nevertheless a question concerning which it is possible to 
get fairly reliable and authoritative data. That specialists 
still differ as to the extent of the relationship is hardly 
matter for surprise, since, in a disease of so subtle and 
insidious a nature, wherein several predisposing causes may, 
and often do, act in combination, it is often impossible 
accurately to distinguish between them. 

A careful analysis of the Annual Reports of the Commis- 
sioners in Lunacy shows that of the total number of cases 
admitted into asylums in England and Wales during the 
last twenty years, no less than 20 per cent, of the male cases, 
and 7*6 per cent, of the female, were due to drink. The 
figures are as follow : — 



Year. 


Number of Cases of Insanity 1 due 
to Intemperance in Drink. 


Percentage of all 
Cases. 




Males. 


Females. 


Total. 


Males. 


Females. 


1878 

1879 

1881 

1883 

1884 

1885 

1886 

1887 

1888 

1888-92 

1891-95 

1892-96 


1,420 
1,350 
1,280 
1,379 
1,365 
1,299 
1,312 
1,343 
1,453 
1,600 
1.779 
i;873 


531 
512 
450 
474 
524 
495 
525 
576 
603 
667 
760 
814 


1,951 
1,862 
1,730 
1,853 
1,889 
1,794 
1,837 
1,919 
2,056 
2,267 
2,539 
2,687 


21-3 
21-1 
19-3 
19-6 
19-2 
20-4 
19-5 
18-9 
19-9 
20-5 
20-9 
21-6 


7-9 
7-6 
6-6 
6-4 
7-2 
7-2 
7-5 
7-9 
7-9 
8-1 
8-5 
8-9 



^ The " assigned causes " given in the Eeport of the Com- 



644 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

In referring to the figures in their Fifty-first Annual 
Report, the Commissioners say : " Very great reliance cannot 
be placed on the returns from which these tables are compiled, 
but so far as they go, it would appear that ' hereditary 
influence ' ^ continues to be the most fruitful cause, ' previous 
attacks ' coming next, and ^ intemperance in drink ' third." 

That the figures quoted under- estimate, rather than other- 
wise, the actual influence of intemperance is not only 
extremely probable, but almost certain. A few considerations 
will make this plain. It is to be remembered (1) that the 
returns upon which the figures are based include a large 
proportion of cases where no history at all is available;^ 
(2) that the medical officers in our large asylums have so 
many cases to receive annually, that they cannot make 
exhaustive inquiries as to causation : some may do, but 
many cannot ; (3) that in inquiries of this kind much 
depends upon the personal equation of inquirer and of 
informant. This (as regards the latter, at any rate) is 
hardly on the side of sound views as to moderation or 
intemperance when we are dealing with the whole country. 

Dr. Claye Shaw, Medical Superintendent of Banstead 
Asylum, in his Annual Report for the year ended March 



missioners are not taken from the '' Statements " in the papers 
of admission of the patients, but are those which have been 
assigned by the medical officers of the asylums. 

^ In the Report referred to, " hereditary influence " represents 
23 per cent., and " previous attacks " 19 per cent, of the total 
number of " admissions." 

2 The percentages given in the table are based not upon the 
total number of cases having an " assigned cause " of insanity, 
but upon the total number of admissions, which include a con- 
siderable proportion of cases for which no assigned cause is 
given. In the five years 1891 to 1895, for example, the average 
number of admissions was 17,512, in 2,987 of which — represent- 
ing 17 per cent, of the whole — the cause of insanity is stated as 
" unknown." 



APPENDICES 645 

31st, 1897, in referring to the difficulty of obtaining accurate 
returns of " causes," says : — 

" Table X., showing the causes of insanity, has been very 
carefully compiled, and it shows the difficulty of obtaining 
accuracy here, for out of the 7G3 admissions, a trustworthy 
history was forthcoming in only 358 instances — barely half. 
In 26 patients (21 men and 5 women) notwithstanding that 
a trustworthy history was obtained, it was still impossible 
to find the cause. The figures show that only 17 per cent, of 
the admissions were directly due to drink." ^ 

Dr. Robert Jones, Medical Superintendent of the Claybury 
Asylum, in his rejport for the same year, says : — 

" Owing to a general revival of trade . . . the past 
year has been a prodigious one for drink ; 22 per cent, of all 
the admissions were due to this cause, which is 2 per cent, 
higher than that recorded last year. As to drink, the state 
of its horrors is not confined to present victims, but in an 
unsparing degree is propagated among future generations, 
and something is urgently needed to galvanize the nation's 
self-control in this direction. Preventive medicine now 
enters largely into the duties of the State, and the great 
increase in drink insanities calls, in my opinion, for more 
stringent action on its part to promote its own sobriety." ^ 

Dr. Gr. E,. Wilson (until recently an Assistant Physician 
at the Royal Edinburgh Asylum, of which Dr. Clous ton is the 
Physician-Superintendent), in his volume on Drunkenness,^ 
says : " In the year 1890 the facts showing the importance 
of drunkenness as a cause of insanity were so conclusive, 
that Dr. Clouston devoted a large part of the Royal Edin- 
burgh Asylum Report to their consideration. He says : 
* Taking the admissions to the West House alone — that is, 
working people chiefly — and confining the inquiry to men 

^ Eighth Annual JReport of the Asylums Committee {London 
County Council), pp. 84, 35. 
2 Ibid., p. 72. 
^ /Social /Science iSeries (Swan Sonnenschein & Co., London). 



646 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

between twenty-five and sixty, the chief wage-earning period 
of life, I find that 53 of the total of 124, or 42*7 per cent., 
were of those in which alcoholic excess was assigned as 
the predisposing or exciting cause. . . . Alcoholic excess 
is the most frequent single exciting cause of mental disease, 
and it acts also as a predisposing cause in very many cases. 
During the past fifteen years we have had 837 admissions 
in whom drink has been put down as the cause, or 16*4 per 
cent, of all our admissions during that time. This may be 
taken as about the general experience of the country. ' " 

In discussing the question again in his report for 1892, 
Dr. Clouston says : " Looking to our own statistics of the 
year, the increase in numbers does not appear to be explained 
fully by the special prevalence of any one cause or form of 
mental malady. Ninety-three cases, or 21 per cent, of the 
whole, were said to be due to drinking, but then we had 26 
per cent, of our admissions alcoholic last year. Sixteen and 
a half per cent, had been our annual proportion during the 
previous fifteen years." ^ 

Further evidence, but of a more limited character, is fur- 
nished in the Annual Reports of the English Commissioners 
of Prisons. These Reports give particulars of the number of 
cases of insanity occurring each year among prisoners in the 
local and convict prisons of England and Wales. The in- 
crease in the number of these in recent years is to be 
accounted for partly by the growing practice of remanding 
to prison for a period of medical observation, persons who 
have committed some offence while in an apparently unsound 
state of mind. Many of these persons are discharged to the 
police courts at the expiration of the period of observation 
(generally one week), and are then dealt with by the police 
authorities ; but as they happen to have spent a few days in 
confinement, and as their disease has been discovered in 
prison, they go to swell the number of prison lunatics. Many 



^ Eightieth Annual Beport of the Royal Edinburgh Asylum, 
p. 13. 



APPENDICES 647 

other lunatics find their way into prison as the result of the 
operation of the existing lunacy laws, and of the difficulties 
thrown in the way of certifying to the existence of insanity. 
To certify that any person is insane is a responsibility not 
lightly to be undertaken, and, if possible, to be avoided alto- 
gether. The madman is consequently allov/ed to wander 
about the country until he commits some crime. He is then 
committed to prison, is certified to be insane, and is forth- 
with removed to an asylum. In these numerous cases, the 
prison is merely a certifying office or agency, through whose 
instrumentality the unhappy lunatic is at last recognised 
and dealt with as his condition requires. ^ 

In the Report of the Commissioners for the year ended 
March 31st, 1898, particulars are given of 150 cases of 
insanity occurring among convicted prisoners in the local and 
convict prisons of England and Wales during that year. The 
'^ supposed cause of insanity "^ is given in 74 cases, and of 
these no less than 31, or 42 percent., are described as directly 
due to, or connected with, drink. Similar figures are given 
in the Reports for previous years. In 1897, out of 93 cases 
where the ^' supposed cause of insanity " was given, 35 or 



^ See Report of the Medical Inspector of Prisons for j^ear 
ended March 31st, 1896. Out of 479 cases of insanity in that 
year " no less than 316 were certified or discharged to police 
courts as insane within one month of reception. In the vast 
majority of cases, if not in qyqvj case, these prisoners were 
unsound in mind not only at the time of reception into prison 
but also at the time that they committed the offences which 
brought them under the notice of the police. Of the remainder, 
as many as 55 were found insane on arraignment, or guilty but 
insane, and were ordered to be detained during her Majesty's 
pleasure. This reduces the number to be accounted for to 108 
and of these 32 were certified to be insane within two months, 
and 16 within three months of reception." 

^ The " supposed cause of insanity " includes cases described 
as " hereditary " as well as " recurrent attacks." 



648 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

38 per cent, were described as directly due to, or connected 
with, drink. In 1896 the percentage of such cases was 37.^ 

In referring to the matter in his E-eport for 1898, the 
Medical Inspector of Prisons says : '' The liability to insanity 
is an unknown quantity, but it may be safely asserted that 
the habits, the excesses, and the debauches of the average 
prisoner tend to predispose him to more risk in this respect 
than the average free man. If we turn to the statistical 
tables of the Commissioners in lunacy, we find that alcoholism 
is one of the most prolific of the causes of insanity, and no 
one will pretend to deny that the same cause operates most 
strongly in filling our penal establishments. It is not 
generally known that numerous cases of delirium tremens 
are treated in the prison hospitals in the course of a year. 
The great majority of these cases recover, but there is a 
residuum where prolonged intemperance lights up a nervous 
disorder which culminates in insanity." 

Dr. Edgar Sheppard, the late Superintendent of Colney 
Hatch Asylum, and Professor of Psychological Medicine in 
King's College, in a letter to the Times on October 15th, 
1873, said : '' It is beyond a doubt that the taste for 
spirituous liquors and the habit of intemperance are growing 
evils, productive of an amount of distress and misery which 
defy calculation. Certainly if any one is in a position to 
measure their effects, a Superintendent of a Lunatic Asylum 
is. Por 12 years I have here watched and chronicled the 
development of the greatest curse which affiicts the country. 
Prom 35 to 40 per cent, is a fairly approximate estimate of 
the ratio of insanity directly or indirectly due to alcoholic 
drinks." 

General estimates of this kind, authoritative as they 
undoubtedly are, are not to be pressed unduly, but it is im- 
portant to note that they are in general agreement with the 
results obtained by the Massachusetts Bureau of Labour 

^ See the Annual Reports of the Commissioners of Prisons 
and Directors of Convict Prisons for 1896, 1897, and 1898. 



APPENDICES 649 

Statistics in tlie course of its official investigations in 1894-5. 
Out of 1,836 cases of insanity investigated — the total number 
found in the State Institutions canvassed during twelve 
consecutive months — 33 per cent, were found to have one or 
both parents intemperate,^ while in 21 per cent, of the cases, 
alcohol directly contributed to the insanity .^ 



Conclusion. 

The data upon which the foregoing estimates are based 
differ so. widely, that it would be misleading to attempt to 
summarise the results given. In view, however, of all the 
evidence, it is impossible to doubt that from one-fifth to one- 
fourth of the total insanity of the country is due, directly or 
indirectly, to intemperance in drink. The actual proportion 
is probably in excess of this estimate ; it is impossible to 
assume that it is less. 

III. Crime. 

The influence of intemperance upon crime is much more 
direct and obvious, and although it is difficult to arrive 
at any precise and authoritative standard of relationship, 
the fact of a considerable relationship is not seriously dis- 
puted. So far back as 1834 we find a Select Committee 
of the House of Commons including among the evils dis- 
tinctly traceable to the traffic in intoxicants, ^' the spread of 
crime in every shape and form," whereby ^' the gaols and 
prisons, the hulks and transport convicts are filled with 
inmates ; and an enormous mass of human beings, who, 
under sober habits and moral training, would be sources of 
wealth and strength to the country, are transformed, chiefly 
through the remote or immediate influence of intoxicating 
drinks, into excrescences of corruption and weakness, which 
must be cut off and cast away from the community to pre- 

^ In 51 per cent, of the cases no information on the point 
could be obtained. 

^ In 18 per cent, of the cases no history was forthcoming. 



650 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

vent the gangrenous contamination of its whole frame, leaving 
the body itself in a constant state of that inflammatory 
excitement, which always produces exhaustion and weakness 
in the end." 

Fifteen years later, we find a Select Committee of the 
House of Lords giving very similar testimony,^ while in 1854 
another Select Committee of the House of Commons declared 
that the evidence presented to it by responsible witnesses, 
and which was " entitled to especial weight," tended '^ to 
establish that whatever individual propensity there may 
be to crime is, with few exceptions, brought into activity by 
habits of intemperance."^ 

Statements of this kind are of too general a character to 
be available as evidence in an exact inquiry, but they are 
important as embodying the conclusions to which responsible 
Parliamentary Commissions have been led by the evidence 
submitted to them. 

The general evidence on the subject falls naturally into 
two broad divisions. Included in the former are the testi- 
monies of judges, governors and chaplains of prisons, and 
responsible social workers, who have been brought into 
close contact with the facts ; while in the latter category 
may be placed the evidence obtained by careful investigations 
concerning the actual history and antecedents of a stated 
number of criminals. 

(a) Testimonies of Governors and Chaplains of 
Prisons, Judges, etc. 

The Committee of the lower House Convocation (Pro- 
vince of Canterbury), in the course of their inquiry in 1869, 

^ See Report of the Select Committee of the House of Lords 
appointed to consider the operation of the Acts for the Sale 
of Beer, 1849-50, p. iv. 

^ Report of the Select Committee on Public Houses, 1854, 

p. XV. 



APPENDICES 65 f 

addressed a series of specific questions on the subject to 
a large number of Judges, Magistrates, Governors and 
Chaplains of Prisons, Chief Constables, etc., in various parts 
of the United Kingdom. The replies (numbering more than 
200) are published in the Appendix to their Eeport, and 
making the most liberal allowance for the informal and 
non-scientific character of the conclusions arrived at, they 
certainly constitute a formidable indictment of the liquor 
traffic. Nearly the whole of the replies estimate the pro- 
portion of crime due, directly or indirectly, to drink at 
from 60 to 80 per cent., while some place it even higher. 
Lord Chief Justice Bovill, in a communication which he 
specially authorised to be published, declared : — '' I have 
no hesitation in stating that in the North of England, and 
in most of the large towns and the manufacturing and 
mining districts, intemperance is directly or indirectly the 
cause of by far the largest proportion of the crimes that 
have come under my observation, and you have, I believe, 
in your published charge, correctly stated the views of the 
Judges generally upon this subject." Lord Chief Baron Kelly 
wrote : — "I should be very happy indeed, if I had the time 
and the means, to answer your letter more satisfactorily than 
I am able to do at the present moment. ... At this 
moment I can only express my belief — indeed, I may say 
my conviction — that two-thirds of the crimes which come 
before the courts of law of this country are occasioned chiefly 
by intemperance." Another well-known judge — the Rt. Hon. 
Sir H. J. Keating— declared : — ^' I should suppose the testi- 
mony of every Judge upon the bench would be the same 
as to the fact that a very large proportion of the crimes of 
violence brought before us are traceable, either directly 
or indirectly, to the intemperate use of intoxicating liquors. 
In my own experience of more than nine years upon the 
bench, corroborated by a very long experience at the bar, 
I have no hesitation in saying that such is the case." 

In the Appendix to the Third Report of the Lords' 
Committee on Intemperance (1877), the results of a similar 



652 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



inquiry, undertaken a few years later ^ by a Committee of 
the Convocation of York, are given. We subjoin the table 
embodying the replies received from the G-overnors and 
Chaplains of gaols. 



Extracts from Eeturns from the Governors and 
Chaplains of Gaols. 



No. 


Average 
number of 


Qy. What proportion of 
those who have come 
under your cognizance as 
criminals have been the 


Qy. What proportion of 
recommittals may be as- 
cribed to drmking habits 
and associates, and to 




prisoners under 
charge. 


victims of drinking habits 
and associates, directly 
or indirectly ? 


what extent do these mili- 
tate against the reforma- 
tion of criminals on their 

release ? 


T 


1,176 


75 per cent. 


75 per cent. 


2 


40 


Two-thirds. 


Nearly all. 


3 


41 


More than half. 


ditto. 


4 


700 


80 per cent. 


ditto. 


5 


144 


90 „ 


ditto. 


6 


189 


One-third directly. 


Three-fourths. 


7 


893 


85 per cent. 


Nearly all. 


8 


80 


75 „ 


Four-fifths. 


9 


133 


75 ,; 


ditto. 


10 


126 


75 „ 


ditto. 


11 


80 


Fully two-thirds. 


125 out of 221. 


12 


79 


80 per cent. 


70 per cent. 


13 


200 


60 per cent, directly. 


75 „ 


14 


93 


90 per cent. 


75 „ 


15 


384 


60 „ 


75 „ 


16 


270 


75 „ 


A large proportion. 


17 


300 


75 „ 


50 per cent. 


18 


156 


90 „ 


Nearly all. 


19 


280 


60 „ 


65 per cent. 


20 


127 


75 „ 


85 „ 


21 


199 


90 „ 


Most of them. 


22 


200 


90 „ 


Nearly all. 


23 


93 


90 „ 


80 per cent. 


24 


13,000 yearly 


75 „ 


A very large propor- 
tion. 



Without in any way ignoring the strict limits within 
which statements of this kind can be accepted as evidence, 

^ The figures were published in a Special Eeport in 1874. 



APPENDICES 653 

it must nevertheless be admitted that they point to a 
close connection between intemperance and crime. The 
impression of their general value as evidence is confirmed by 
other direct testimony. The late Lord Justice Lush, speaking 
at the Bristol Spring Assizes, in 1875, said : '^ I think it 
would astonish many persons if they knew how large a 
proportion of crime is traceable, directly or indirectly, to 
drink. I am almost afraid to name the proportion ; but my 
own impression is derived from constant experience in every 
county in England, that more than one-half of the crimes 
that are brought before us are to be ascribed to the influence 
of drink — sometimes the influence of drink upon the guilty 
person, sometimes the influence of drink upon the victim ; 
the condition of the victim tempts the criminal into crime. 
So that between the two, I think I am right in saying that 
more than one-half, and I think I might say considerably 
more than one-half, of all the crime that comes before us is 
traceable, directly or indirectly, to drink." 

Six years later, ^ Lord Justice Kay, when presiding at the 
Liverpool Assizes, said : ''I am going to say a few words 
which you must have heard a great many times, and which 
judges are rather tired of repeating, but my apology is that 
I have special reason for saying them to you. Many of the 
cases in this calendar are offences which have been committed 
under the influence of drink. A long experience as a county 
magistrate, and my experience as a judge upon the North- 
Eastern Circuit twice, and upon this Circuit, have quite 
convinced me that I am speaking within the mark when 
I say that if the people of this country would be weaned 
from the fatal habit of drinking, crime would be diminished 
one-half.'- 

Ten years later still {i.e. in 1891) the late Lord Chief 
Justice Coleridge, speaking at the Birmingham Sum- 
mer Assizes, said: 'Tew people have opportunities of 
realizing as I have the terrible effects produced b}' in- 



^ November, 1881. 



654 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

temperance. Of course, there are cases which stand quite 
aside from the influence of the public-house — crimes such 
as perjury, forgery, false pretences, and others — which re- 
quire the assistance of education. But drunkenness is 
mainly the cause of the commoner sorts of crime, and if 
England could be made sober, three-fourths of her gaols 
might be closed." 

Proportion of Offences of Drunkenness. 

Drunkenness alone is responsible for a very large pro- 
portion of the total prison population. Out of 14,194 
prisoners in local prisons in England and Wales on May 25th, 
1898, 8 per cent, of the men and 25 per cent, of the women 
were undergoing sentences for simple drunkenness ; while 
a further 7 per cent, of the men and 5 per cent, of the 
women were there as '' vagrants." 

In his report for the year ended March 31st, 1898, the 
Visiting Chaplain of Prisons (England and Wales) wrote : 
^'Everywhere it is stated that intemperance is the prime 
cause of the majority of commitments to prisons. In one of 
the northern prisons, the Chaplain says that there are at 
present no less than eight offenders who have upwards of 
160 convictions against them. With a large number of 
habitual inebriates the prison is little else than a useful 
sanatorium, which, so low is their mode of life and their 
code of morals, is an acceptable place of rest and quiet for 
them." 

The Chaplain of the Wakefield prison, in his report for 
the same year, stated : " Prom November 24th, 1897, to 
March 24th, 1898, there were 756 cases of drunkenness with 
sentences of under three months. Eighty-two of these 
admitted that they were powerless to resist drink if once 
tasted; eighty-seven were hopeful cases, and promised to 
abstain entirely for the future ; eight appeared utterly 
hopeless, having been convicted from 60 to over 130 times. 
For this latter class of prisoners short sentences are entirely 
useless." 



APPENDICES 



655 



(b) Results of Special Investigations. 

The part which drink actually plays in the production of 
crime is seen more clearly in the results of specific investiga- 
tions undertaken at different times by public officials and 
others. 

At the Annual Congress of the National Association for 
the Promotion of Social Science in 1868, the Rev. H. L. 
Elliot, M.A., Chaplain of the Birmingham Borough Prison, 
gave particulars of the iirst convictions of 1,000 prisoners 
brought under his notice during the preceding eighteen 
months. The cases were taken, without selection, in the 
order in which they presented themselves to him in the 
course of his daily visitations. The results of the investi- 
gations are given in the subjoined table : ^ — 



First convictions supposed to be 
traceable to 



Number examined, who 

on the occasion of the last 

offence had been 



Indicted. 



M 



1. Bad company — 

(a) Acquaintances made in 
the street, workshop, or 
home, etc 

(&) Acquaintances made in 
the public-house, danc- 
ing saloon, etc. . . , 

2. Drink 

.3. Poverty 

4. Opportunity 

5. VVant of principle 

6. Bad temper 

7. Immorality and wantonness . 

8. Incapacity and imbecility . . 

9. Other causes 

Total 



126 



69 
43 
11 
33 

44 
7 
4 
3 

13 



353 



32 





13 

6 

7 

11 

4 

12 

2 

1 



Summarily 
Convicted. 



M 



74 



25 

126 

25 

35 

5 

51 

12 

6 

73 



432 



18 



7 
23 
10 

2 

7 
34 
11 


15 



127 



Total. 



250 



101 
205 
52 
77 
67 
96 
39 
11 
102 



1,000 



^ Transactions of the National Association for the Promotion 
of Social Science, 1868, p. 327. 



6r,6 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



In a second table ^ the results of a further examination of 
500 prisoners in the Birmingham Borough Gaol are given 
the figures in this case dealing with the cause of the last 
conviction : — 

Table showing the Effect of Drink in causing Crime. 



Last conviction supposed to be 
traceable to 


Number of Prisoners 
examined. 


M 


F 


Total 


Per cent. 


Drink 

Drunken habits and companions . . 
Other causes 


119 

63 

194 


26 
10 

88 


145 
73 

282 


29-00 
14-60 
56-40 






Total 


376 


124 


500 


100-00 



Other and mo;:e recent information on the subject is con- 
tained in the last Annual Report (1898) of the Commissioners 
of Prisons for England and Wales. We will quote two 
cases only. The first has reference to Wakefield. The total 
number of ''first offenders" in the Wakefield prison for the 
year ended March 31st, 1898, was 561. Of these, 140 were 
charged with actual drunkenness, and 183 for offences com- 
mitted under the influence of drink. The full statement of 
the cases is given in the following table : ^ — 



* Transactions of the National Association for the Promotion 
of Social Science, 1868, p. 333. 

2 Report of the Commissioners of Prisons and the Directors 
of Convict Prisons {England and Wales) for the year ended 
March dlst, 1898, p. 413. 



APPENDICES 



657 



Month 
1897 to 1898. 


Number 
of First 
Offend- 
ers. 


Number 
of Men 
charged 

with 
Drunk- 
enness. 


Number 
of other 
Offences 

attri- 

bated to 

Drink. 


Number 
of other 
Offences. 


Percent- 
age of 
charges 

for 
actual 
Drunk- 
enness. 


Percent- 
age of 
Offences 
includ- 
ing 
actual 
Drunk- 
enness 
attri- 
buted to 
Drink. 


April . 
May . 
June . 
July . 
August 
Septembei 
October 
November 
December 

1898. 
January 
February 
March . . 






141 
116 
68 
37 
40 
38 
36 
25 
16 

21 
11 
12 


36 
41 
25 
8 
7 
8 
5 
6 
2 

1 
1 


23 
33 
10 
19 
12 
16 
16 
15 
12 

14 

7 
6 


82 
42 
33 
10 
21 
14 
15 
4 
2 

6 
3 
6 


25-53 

35-34 

36-76 

21-62 

17-5 

21-05 

13-88 

24-00 

12-5 

4-76 
9-09 


41-84 

63-79 

51-47 

72-97 

47-5 

63-15 

58-33 

84-00 

87-5 

71-42 

72-72 
50-0 


Total and aver- 
ages for en- 
tire period . 


561 


140 


183 


238 


24-95 


57-57 



In the same volume, particulars are given of 1,166 com- 
mitments to the Warwick prison during the same period. 
The particulars are as follow : ^ — 

Charged with being drunk 201 

Crimes directly due to drink 287 

Crimes arising from avoidable and unavoidable poverty 
— probably 50 per cent, of the poverty arising from 

drink 2G4 

Crimes due to the moral state of character, 30 per cent, 
perhaps the result of drink, i.e., of the said moral 

condition 199 

Arising from passion, with more or less provocation . . G8 
Bad company (the drink element comes in here again) . 86 
Negligence, imprudence, accidental, uncertain, etc. . . 61 

Total .... 1,166 
* Report of the Commissioners of Prisons, 1898. 

42 



658 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

InTEMPEEANCE " AND CrIME IN CANADA AND THE 

United States. 

It will add further interest to the inquiry if we compare 
the estimates thus far given with evidence derived from other 
English-speaking peoples. 

(a) Canada. 

We will take Canada first. In the course of their investi- 
gations in 1893-95 the Royal Canadian Commissioners issued 
a number of circulars bearing on the relation of intemperance 
to crime, to various magistrates and judges in the Dominion. 
The replies were afterwards tabulated, and the result is 
given in the following table, which we extract from the final 
Eeport of the Commission (published in 1895). The question 
set for decision was the proportion of criminal cases attribut- 
able, directly or indirectly, to the use of intoxicating liquors. 
Of those who replied : — 

8 placed the percentage at between zero and 10 per cent. 
11 placed the percentage at between 10 per cent, and 25 

per cent. 

9 placed the percentage at between 25 per cent, and 50 

per cent. 
65 placed the percentage at between 50 per cent, and 75 

per cent. 
15 over 75 per cent. 
53 were indefinite in their replies. 
6 made no reply to the question. 



167 



Such statements, it need hardly be repeated, have no 
definitive value as evidence, but they may quite legitimately 
be quoted as evidence of the broad impression which contin- 
uous acquaintance with the details of crime produces in the 
minds of disinterested observers. Much clearer evidence of 
the connection between intemperance and crime in Canada is 
furnished by Mr. Fanshawe in his valuable work on Liquor 



APPENDICES 



659 



Legislation in the United States and Canada. Mr. Fan- 
sliawe takes the total number of persons convicted of indict- 
able offences in the Dominion of Canada during the years 
1885-91, and divides them into three classes : Moderate 
drinkers^ immoderate drinkers^ and teetotalers. He also 
classifies the offences under different heads. The figures, he 
tells us, were ^' derived from information officially obtained 
respecting prisoners on their conviction." ^ We give in the 
following table the broad results of the analysis : — 

Indictable Offences in Canada. 



Nature of Offence. 



Percentage of cases. 



Offences against the Person — 

Moderate Drinkers 

Immoderate Drinkers 

Teetotalers 

Offences against Property ivith Violence — 

Moderate Drinkers 

Immoderate Drinkers 

Teetotalers 

Offences against Property without Violence 

Moderate Drinkers 

Immoderate Drinkers 

Teetotalers 

Malicious Offences against Property — 

Moderate Drinkers 

Immoderate Drinkers 

Teetotalers 

Forgery and Offences against the Currency- 

Moderate Drinkers 

Immoderate Drinkers 

Teetotalers 

Other Offences — 

Moderate Drinkers 

Immoderate Drinkers 

Teetotalers 



1885-88. 



44-00 

47-00 

9-00 

50-00 
35-00 
15-90 

50-84 
31-56 
17-60 

56-00 
25-48 
18-52 

62-22 
26-67 
11-11 

58-63 
32-47 
13-90 



1889-91. 



38-04 
51-50 
10-46 

46-37 
41-63 
12-00 

47-90 
39-70 
12-40 

44-00 

28-00 

28-00 

56-10 

34-10 

9-80 

48-11 
36-32 
15-57 



^ Fanshawe, Liquor Legislation in the United States and 
Canada, p. 396. 



66o THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

(b) The United States. 

One of the most valuable of tHe few official inquiries into 
the influence of intemperance upon crime was the careful 
investigation made by the Hon. Carroll D. Wright, Chief 
of the Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics of Labour ^ in 
1879-80. 

A comparison of the statistics of crime in the State during 
a period of twenty years {i.e. 1860-1879) showed that out 
of a total of 578,458 sentences, 340,814, or 60 per cent., 
were sentences for ''rum" offences (z.e. drunkenness, etc.). 
There were, however, no sources of information from which 
it was possible to ascertain the weight of the influence of 
intemperance in the commission of all crimes other than 
" rum " offences, and " our means would not allow us to canvass 
all the courts in the Commonwealth : we therefore instituted 
an investigation for the year, current from September 1st, 
1879, to September 1st, 1880, with a view to discover what 
that influence is, in the County of Suffolk (Mass.), during the 
above year." The investigation dealt exclusively with all 
sentences for offences other than the distinctive "rum" 
offences, passed during the year. 

'' The total number of sentences for the year of our investi- 
gation — the distinctive rum offences included — was 16,897. 
Twelve thousand two hundred and eighty-nine were directly 
due to 'rum' causes; 12,221 being for sentences for the 
various grades of drunkenness, and 68 for liquor keeping 
and liquor selling without licence, etc. Thus, for the year, 
the sentences for ' rum ' causes alone constituted 72 per cent, 
of the whole, leaving a small balance of 27 per cent. Now, 
to discover what was the influence of intemperance in the 
commission of this balance, formed the object of this investi- 
gation." 

" We sought," says Mr. Wright, " to compass the object of 
our investigation by ascertaining the connection between 
rum and the criminal in five directions : — 

^ Now U.S. Commissioner of Labour, Washington. 



APPENDICES 66 1 

(1) Whether the criminal was under the influence of 

liquor at the time the crime was committed. 

(2) Whether the criminal was in liquor at the time he 

formed the intent to commit the crime. 

(3) Whether the intemperate habits of the criminal were 

such as to lead to a condition which induced the 
crime. 

(4) Whether the intemperate habits of others led the 

criminal to a condition which induced the crime. 

(5) What were the drinking habits of the criminal, 

whether total abstainer, moderate drinker, or exces- 
sive drinker ? 
And, for the purpose of enabling us to make this investiga- 
tion as thorough and accurate as possible, we endeavoured, 
through our agents, to acquaint ourselves with each criminal, 
his history, his friends, his neighbourhood, his real name, 
and the exact name and nature of his offence ; his residence, 
his occupation, his age and birthplace. In each of the nine, 
courts of criminal jurisdiction in the County of Suffolk, we 
had an agent, paid to investigate each case that appeared in 
the same." 

The facts thus gathered are presented in the following 

statement : — 

Not 
Yes. No. answered. Total. 

1. Was the criminal under the 

influence of liquor at the 
time the crime was com- 
mitted? 2,097 2,318 193 4,608* 

2. Was the criminal in liquor 

when the intent to com- 
mit the crime was formed ? 1,918 2,414 276 4,608 

3. Did the intemperate habits 

of the criminal lead to a 
condition which induced 
the crime? 1,804 2,566 238 4,608 

4. Did the intemperate habits 

of others lead the criminal 
to a condition which in- 
duced the crime? ... 821 3,404 383 4,608 

* Total of cases investigated after deducting sentences 
" vacated" by reason of death, successful appeal, etc. 



662 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

It will thus be seen that 2,097, or 45 per cent,, were in 
liquor at the time of the commission of the offence of which 
they were found guilty ; that 1,918, or 42 per cent., were in 
liquor at the time of the formation of the criminal intent ; 
that the intemperate habits of 1,804, or 39 per cent., were 
such as to induce a moral condition favourable to crime ; and 
that 821, or 18 per cent., were led to a criminal condition 
through the contagion of intemperance. ^ 

In summing up the results of the inquiry, Mr. Carroll 
Wright says : — 

^' These figures paint a picture, at once the most faithful 
and hideous, of the guilt and power of rum. Men and 
women, the young, the middle-aged, and the old, father and 
son, husband and wife, native and foreign born . . . all 
testify to its ramified and revolting tyranny. Therefore, the 
result of this investigation, in view of the disproportionate 
magnitude of the exclusively rum offences, and considered in 
connection with the notorious tendency of liquor to inflame 
and enlarge the passions and appetites, to import chaos into 
the moral and physical life, to level the barriers of decency 
and self-respect, and to transport its victims into an abnormal 
and irresponsible state, destructive and degrading, calls for 
earnest and immediate attention at the bar of the public 
opinion and the public conscience of Massachusetts." ^ 

In obedience to the mandate of a special Act passed by the 
State Legislature in 1894, a further and more extended inquiry 
was made by the Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics in 
1894-95. Under the terms of the Act authorizing the inves- 
tigation, the collection of information occupied twelve succes- 
sive months, the period closing August 20th, 1895. The 

^ Of the persons sentenced for assault and battery, and larceny 
(amounting to 2,613, or 56 per cent, of the whole), no less than 
1,275, or 48 per cent., were in liquor at the time of the commis- 
sion of the offence. 

^ Twelfth Annual Eeport of the Massachusetts Bureau of 
Statistics of Labour, 1881. 



APPENDICES 663 

details of the inquiry, which covered no less than 26,672 
cases of crime, are fully and elaborately set forth in the 
Twenty-Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Statistics of 
Labour, and can only be summarized here. The results are 
certainly striking, and they confirm in a very remarkable 
way the results of the earlier investigation. 

Out of the 26,672 cases examined, 17,575, or 65-89 per 
cent., were convictions for drunkenness ; and 657, or 2*46 per 
cent., for drunkenness in combination with other offences. In 
8,440 cases in which drunkenness did not form part of the 
offence, that is, in which the offender was convicted of a 
crime other than drunkenness, 3,640, or 43-13 per cent., were 
cases in which the offender was in liquor at the time the 
offence was committed ; 4,852, or 57-49 per cent., were cases 
in which the offender was in liquor at the time the intent 
was formed to commit the offence ; 4,294, or 50-88 per cent., 
were cases in which the intemperate habits of the offender 
led to a condition which induced the crime ; while in 3,611, 
or 42-78 per cent., the intemperate habits of persons other 
than the offender were said to have been influential in the 
commitment of the offence. 

Of the whole number of convictions, namely, 26,672, the 
number of offenders addicted to the use of liquor was 25,137, 
or 94*24 per cent. The excessive drinkers numbered 4,516 
(16-93 per cent.), and the total abstainers numbered 1,535 
(5-76 per cent.). Of the total abstainers, however, 632 were 
minors. There were also 680 minors addicted to the use of 
liquor. Excluding all the minors, whether total abstainers 
or not, we have 25,360 offenders of adult years, of whom 
24,457, or 96*44 per cent., were addicted to the use of liquor, 
including 4,482 excessive drinkers, and 19,975 drinkers not 
classed as excessive. Of the whole number of offenders, 
57*89 per cent, had fathers who were addicted to the use of 
liquor, while 20*49 per cent, had mothers addicted to the use 
of liquor. Again, of the whole number of offenders addicted 
to the use of liquor, 126, or less than one per cent., used wines 
only ; 4,293, or about 17 per cent., used lager beer or malt 



664 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

liquors only ; 728, or about 3 per cent., used distilled liquors 
only ; and 19,990, or about 80 per cent., used all kinds, or at 
least two kinds of liquor.^ 



Conclusion. 

Such, in broad outline, are the chief sources of information 
on the subject. The evidence, it will be seen, is of unequal 
worth, but its cumulative effect is practically irresistible in 
compelling a conviction of the powerful influence which 
intemperance exerts in the production and perpetuation of 
crime. 

^ During the twelve months covered by the investigation, 
the arrests in the State for all offences numbered about 41 
(41'41) to each 1,000 of the population. In cities, such arrests 
numbered about 55 (55'01), and in towns {i.e. what in England 
would be called villages) about 16 (15*67) to each 1,000 of the 
population. The arrests for drunkenness only numbered about 
25 (24-59) in the State at large, about 34 (33' 73) in the cities, 
and about 7 (7*29) in the towns {i.e. villages) to each 1,000 of the 
population. 



APPENDICES 



665 



Mortality due to Intemperance (England and Wales). 

I. Chronic Alcoholism. 

Table showing the number and ratio of deaths attributable 
to chronic alcoholism in the years 1877-96. 





Number of Deatlis. 


Ratio per Million Living. 


Year. 














Males. 


Females. 


Total. 


Males. 


Females. 


Total. 


1877 


479 


255 


734 


40 


20 


30 


1878 


489 


288 


777 


40 


22 


31 


1879 


389 


266 


655 


31 


20 


26 


1880 


407 


269 


676 


32 


20 


26 


1881 


500 


347 


847 


39 


26 


33 


1882 


604 


400 


1,004 


47 


30 


38 


1883 


550 


354 


904 


42 


26 


34 


1884 


537 


379 


916 


41 


27 


34 


1885 


552 


388 


940 


42 


28 


35 


1886 


586 


459 


1,045 


44 


32 


38 


1887 


631 


471 


1,102 


47 


33 


40 


1888 


653 


472 


1,125 


48 


32 


40 


1889 


691 


511 


1,202 


50 


35 


42 


1890 


902 


661 


1,563 


65 


45 


54 


1891 


857 


645 


1,502 


61 


43 


52 


1892 


859 


683 


1,542 


60 


45 


52 


1893 


927 


782 


1,709 


64 


51 


57 


1894 


795 


672 


1,467 


55 


43 


49 


1895 


920 


743 


1,663 


62 


47 


55 


1896 


1,019 


756 


1,775 


68 


48 


58 



666 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



11. Delirium Tremens. 



Table showing the number and ratio of deaths from delirium 
tremens in the years 1877-96. 





Number of Deaths. 


Ratio per Million Living. 


Year. 












Males. 


Females. 


Total. 


Males. 


Females. 


Total. 


1877 


370 


42 


412 


31 


3 


17 


1878 


290 


49 


339 


24 


4 


14 


1879 


225 


48 


273 


18 


4 


11 


1880 


230 


44 


274 


18 


3 


11 


1881 


322 


44 


366 


25 


3 


14 


1882 


278 


41 


319 


22 


3 


12 


1883 


336 


43 


379 


26 


3 


14 


1884 


306 


47 


353 


23 


3 


13 


1885 


340 


54 


394 


26 


4 


14 


1886 


297 


50 


347 


22 


4 


13 


1887 


283 


57 


340 


21 


4 


12 


1888 


276 


50 


326 


20 


3 


12 


1889 


307 


57 


364 


22 


4 


13 


1890 


406 


68 


474 


29 


5 


16 


1891 


470 


83 


553 


33 


6 


19 


1892 


372 


57 


429 


26 


4 


15 


1893 


407 


58 


465 


28 


4 


16 


1894 


314 


61 


375 


22 


4 


12 


1895 


317 


65 


382 


22 


4 


13 


1896 


345 


68 


413 


23 


4 


13 



APPENDICES 667 



ENGLAND AND WALES. 
Total Number of Licensed Premises in 1896. 

'^ On " Licences — 

Pully licensed 66,130 

Other "on" 33,180 

Not classified 2,593 

101,903 

" Of" Licences— 

With discretion 14,643 

Other "off" 7,409 

Not classiiied 1,989 

24,041 

Total "On" and "Off" Licences 125,944 

Average. — 1 " On " licensed house to every 301 inhabitants. 



SCOTLAND. 
Total Number of Licensed Premises in 1896. 

Hotels and Lms— 

Where spirits are sold 1,663 

Others 14 

1,677 

Public-hoicses — 

Where spirits are sold 5,571 

Others 125 

Restaurants 29 

5,725 

Licensed Grocers — 

Where spirits are sold 3,914 

Others 207 

4,121 

Table Beer Licences 103 

Total of all licensed premises 11,626 

Average.— 1 " On "licensed house to every 566 inhabitants. 



668 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



IRELAND. 

Total Number of Licensed Premises in 1896. 
" On " Licences — 

Public-houses 16,740 

Refreshment House Wine Licences 41 

Not Classified 45 

16,826 

" 0/"" Licences— 

Spirit Grrocers' Licences .... 915 
Beer Retailers' Licences .... 553 
Wholesale Beer Dealers .... 235 
Not Classified 3 

1,706 

Total of all licensed premises . . . 18,532 
Average : — 1 ^' On " licensed house to every 271 inhabitants. 



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669 



670 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



IRELAND. 

Table showing tbe Ratio of Licensed Premises to (a) other 
houses, and {b) population in certain boroughs in Ireland. 



Borough. 


Eatio of Licensed 

Hoases to other 

Houses. 


Ratio of Licensed 
Houses to 
Population. 


Clonmel . . 
Waterford . 
Kilkenny . 
Limerick. . 
Cork . . . 
Queenstown 
Tralee. . . 
Belfast . . 
Dublin . . 






1 to 
11 
15 
17 
17 
19 
17 
21 
33 
33 


Ito 

78 

89 

93 

119 

129 

142 

160 

164 

275 



LONDON. 

(Metropolitan Police Area.) Population (1896): 6,259,966. 
Total Number of Licensed Houses in 1896. 

Public-houses 6,860 

Beer-houses with " off " licences 998 

„ „ „ "on "or "off" licences 3,269 

Refreshment houses with wine licences " on " . . . . 307 

Houses for the sale of wines in shops with "off" licences 718 
„ „ „ „ and spirits in shops with 

"off" licences 1,887 

Total number of licensed houses .... 14,039 
Average : 1 licensed house to every 446 inhabitants. 



APPENDICES 



671 



Number of Licensed Houses per square mile in certain 
Police Divisions in London. 







Total 






Area 


Number of 


Number 


Police Division. 


(Square 


Licensed 


per Square 




Miles). 


Houses 
(1896). 


Mile. 


" C " or St. James's (includ- 








ing Soho) 


0-70 


559 


798 


"E"orHolborn . . 




0-80 


389 


486 


"G"orFinsbury . . 




1-75 


664 


379 


" D " or Marylebone . 




1-26 


436 


349 


"H"or Whitechapel 




2-08 


704 


338 


"L» or Lambeth . . 




2-59 


502 


194 


"M"orSouthwark . 




416 


551 


132 



Value of Licensed Premises in London (Administrative 
County 1) in 1896. 





Gross Value. 


Kateable Value. 


Public-houses . . . 
Beer-houses . . . 

Hotels 

Clubs 

Restaurants . . . 


£1,296,816 
136,256 
286,576 
231,530 
152,243 


£1,082,068 
113,779 
238,565 
192,981 
126,942 




£2,103,421 


£1,754,335 



It will be observed that the valuation of these premises 
forms one-twentieth of the whole valuation of London. 

It is nearly six times (5-60) the total rateable value of all 
the Board Schools and Voluntary Schools in London. 



Except Penge. 



672 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



MANCHESTEH (1898). 

Public-houses 503 

Beer Houses, '' On " 1,776 

„ "Off" 585 

Refresliment Houses with Wine 

Licences, other than beer-houses 125 

2,989 
Average : 1 licensed house to every 180 inhabitants. 



EDINBURGH. 




Where 




Spirits sold. Others. 


Total. 


Hotels and Inns 36 . . 1 . 


. 37 


Public-houses . 304 . . 8 . 


. 312 


Licensed Grrocers 414 . . 2 . 


. 416 



Total of all licensed houses . . 765 
1 licensed house to every 80 dwelling houses. 
1 „ „ „ ,, 378 persons. 



GLASGOW. 




Where 




Spirits sold. Others. 


Total. 


Hotels and Inns . 20 . . - . 


20 


Public-houses . 1,419 . . 6 . 


. 1,425 


Licensed Grocers 308 . . 2 . 


. 310 



Total of all licensed houses . . 1,755 
1 licensed house to every 83 dwelling houses. 
1 „ „ „ „ 401 persons. 



APPENDICES 673 



DUBLIN (Metropolitan Police District). 

Public-houses 901 

Refreshment House Wine Licences 23 

Total '' On " Licences ... 924 

Spirit Grocers' Licences .... 289 

Beer Retailers' Licences .... 45 

Wholesale Beer Dealers .... 21 

Total ''Off" Licences ... 355 
Total of all licensed houses, 1,279. 

1 licensed house to every 33 dwelling houses. 

1 „ „ „ „ 275 persons. 



BELFAST. 

" On " Licences — 

Public-houses ...,.,,. 649 

Total " On " Licences .... 649 

"Off" Licences- 
Spirit Grocers 370 

Beer Retailers' Licences 331 

Wholesale Beer Dealers 30 

Total "Off" Licences .... 731 
Total of all licensed houses, 1,380. 

1 licensed house to every 33 dwelling houses. 

1 „ „ „ ,, 164 persons. 



43 



674 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



COEK (CiTY). 
Public-houses 542 

Total " On " Licences 542 

Spirit Grocers' Licences 10 

Beer Eetailers' Licences 17 

Wholesale Beer Dealers ..... 12 

~ Total "Off" Licences 39 

Total of all licensed houses . . . 581 
1 licensed house to every 19 dwelling houses. 
1 „ ,, „ „ 129 persons. 



APPENDICES 



675 



APPEALS TO QUARTER SESSIONS. 

Summary of the Results of Appeals to County Quarter 
Sessions against Refusals to renew — during Two Periods of 
Five Years, 1886-91 and 1891-96. 



E.VGLAND AND WaLES. 





1st January, 1887, to 1st 
January, 1892. 


1st January, 1892, to 1st 
January, 1897- 




Total. 


Allowed. 


Withdrawn 

or 
Dismissed. 


Total. 


Allowed. 


Withdrawn 

or 
Dismissed. 


Cities or 
Boroughs 

Petty Sessional 
Divisions 


168 
96 


72 
45 


96 
51 


272 
204 


124 
124 


148 

80 


Total . . 


264 


117 


147 


476 


248 


228 



Scotland. 



Results of Appeals to Quarter Sessions during the ten 
years, 1886-96. 





Appeals Allowed. 


Appeals 
Dismissed or 
Abandoned. 


Total. 


Burghs. . . . 
Counties . . . 


315 
179 


319 
189 


634 

368 




494 


503 


1,002 



, 


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CO -H op p tH 


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676 



APPENDICES 



677 



LONDON {Metropolitan Police Area). 

Average Number o£ 
Arrests for 
Years. Drunkenness. 

Per 1,000 Population. 

1845-49 7-58 

1850-54 8-90 

1855-59 6-74 

1860-64 5-66 

1865-69 5-48 

1870-74 6-77 

1875-79 , 7-53 

1880-84 5-50 

1885-89 4-33 

1890-94 5-46 

1895 5-66 

1896 6-29 

1897 7-35 

1898 8-38 



PEOPORTION OF FEMALE DEUNKENNESS. 
LONDON {Metropolitan Police Area). 





Total No. 










of Arrests 


Proportion 


Males. 


Females. 


Years. 


for drunken- 
ness. 


per 1,000. 


Per cent. 


Per cent. 


1875 


30,976 


7-57 


53 


47 


1895 


34,605 


5-66 


59 


41 


1897 


46,899 


7-35 


61 


39 


1898 


54,476 


8-38 


61 


39 



678 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



MANCHESTER. 





Total No. of 








Years. 


Persons Pro- 
ceeded Against 


Average No. 
of Arrests for 


Males. 
Per cent. 


Females. 
Per cent. 




for Drunken. 


Drunkenness. 




nes3. 








1857-61 


__ 


1,966 


80 


20 


1862-66 


— 


3,896 


77 


23 


1867-71 


— 


10,504 


75 


25 


1872-76 


— 


9,821 


71 


29 


1891 


7,041 


— 


68 


32 


1892 


6,225 


— 


67 


33 


1893 


6,335 


— 


64 


36 


1894 


6,988 


— 


64 


36 


1895 


5,864 


— 


63 


37 



LIVEBPOOL. 



Years. 


Average No. 

of Persons 
Proceeded 

Against for 
Drunkenness. 


Males. 
Per cent. 


Females. 
Per cent. 


1876-80 
1881-85 
1886-90 
1891-95 


8,350 
8,844 
6,561 

7,884 


74 
76 
75 

76 


26 
24 
25 
24 



GLASGOW. 



Years. 


Average No. 

of Persons 
Arrested for 
Drunkenness. 


Males. 
Per cent. 


Females. 
Per cent. 


1877-81 
1882-86 
1887-91 
1892-96 


13,422 

12,687 
17,029 

18,484 


70 
68 

67 
68 


30 
32 
33 

32 



APPENDICES 



679 



HULL. 



Year. 


Total Number 

of Convictions 

for Drunkenness. 


Males. 
Per cent. 


Females. 
Per cent. 


1886 


757 


74 


26 


1887 


776 


73 


27 


1888 


836 


71 


29 


1889 


978 


71 


29 


1890 


1,095 


m 


34 


1891 


1,270 


71 


29 


1892 


1,014 


70 


30 



BELFAST. 





Total Number of 






Year. 


Persons Proceeded 


Males. 


Females. 


against for 


Per cent. 


Per cent. 




Drunkenness. 






1891 


7,583 


71 


29 


1892 


6,905 


70 


30 


1893 


5,900 


66 


34 


1894 


5,722 


70 


30 


1895 


5,729 


68 


32 


1896 


6,052 


67 


33 


1897 


6,433 


70 


30 



DUNDEE. 





Average Number 






Years. 


of Persons Pro- 


Males. 


Females. 


ceeded against for 


Per cent. 


Per cent. 




Drunkenness. 






1857-61 


644 


65 


35 


1862-66 


907 


65 


35 


1867-71 


956 


m 


34 


1872-76 


1,551 


67 


33 


1877-81 


1,950 


G9 


31 


1882-86 


1,509 


65 


35 


1887-91 


1,154 


63 


37 


1892-96 


1,369 


62 


38 



68o THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



INFLUENCE OF THE LIQUOR TRADE ON 
PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS. 

Table of Contested Constituencies in England, Wales, and 
Scotland which retm^ned Conservative or Liberal-Unionist 
Members at the General Election of 1895, in which the transfer 
of one or two votes for every " On " licensed house from the 
Conservative or Liberal-Unionist to the Liberal side would 
have affected the result. 

General Election, 1895. 

Note. — In the case of the two-member constituencies in which 
two Conservatives or Liberal-Unionists were returned, to gain one 
seat it is merely necessary for the highest rejected candidate to 
displace the lower of those returned. Thus the number of votes 
which must be transferred to gain one seat equals more than half 
the difference between the lowest Conservative and the highest 
Liberal candidate. To gain the remaining seat the majority of 
the higher Conservative over the second Liberal candidate must 
be destroyed. 

For example, in the case of Norwich (1895) the poll declared was — 

C 8,166 

C 8,034 

L 7,330 

L 7,210 

A transference of 353 votes would place the first Liberal above the 
second Conservative candidate, and thus one seat would be gained; 
whilst a transference of 479 votes would place the second Liberal 
above the first Conservative, and thus a second seat would be 
gained. 



APPENDICES 



68 1 











What the result would 








~ 


have been had the in- 






Ao 


fluence of the Public- 




Eegls- 


© O • 




house been eliminated. 




assuming 


assuming 




^•^nd 


S? S § 


that each 


that each 




tered 


^P a 


^§1 


"On" Li- 


"On" Li- 


Name of Constituency. 


Number 
of 






censed House 
caused the 


censed House 
caused the 




Electors. 


^ S 2 


(^•n c 


Transfer of 


Transfer of 




t»^ 


^io 


one vote 


two votes 






rQM 


from the 


from the 






-^O 


1.S 


Liberal to the 


Liberal to the 






•s g 


.i^ 


Conservative 


Conservative 






•a-l 


^ 


or Liberal- 


or Liberal- 








(^ 


Unionist 


Unionist 






^ 




Candidate. 


Candidate. 


ENGLAND AND 












WALES 


4,959,805 










" On " Licensed Pre- 












mises— 101,903 












Bath, one seat ^ . . . 


7,059 


441 


145 


— 


Gain. 


Bedford 


4,179 


166 


86 


Gain. 


— 


Bedfordshire {North) . 


13,744 


267 


282 


Gain. 


— 


Bethnal Green (North- 












East) 


7,431 


160 


153 


Gain. 


__ 


Birkenhead 


14,277 


204 


293 


Gain. 


— 


Bradford (West) . . . 


11,200 


455 


230 


Gain. 


— 


Bradford (East) . . . 


12,997 


704 


267 


— 


Gain. 


Bradford {Central) . . 


10,316 


41 


212 


Gain, 


— 


Bristol {North) . . . 


11,490 


238 


236 


Gain. 


— 


Bristol (South) .... 


12,281 


759 


252 


— 


Gain. 


Buckinghamshire, North 












(Bucks) 


11,395 


436 


234 


Gain. 


— 


Camberwell (North) . . 


11,064 


693 


227 


— 


Gain. 


Cambridgeshire, North 












(Wisbech) 


10,495 


223 


216 


Gain. 


— 


Cambridgeshire, West 












(Chesterton) .... 


10,651 


420 


219 


Gain. 


— 


Cambridgeshire, East 












(Newmarket). . . . 


9,738 


343 


200 


Gain. 


— 


Cardiff 


19,358 


824 


398 


— 


Gain. 


Carmarthen District 


5,370 


52 


110 


Gain. 


— 


Chatham 


9,199 


583 


189 


— 


Gain. 


Cheltenham 


7,169 


469 


147 


— 


Gain. 



* Italics indicate Constituencies which returned Liberal-Unionist 
Members. 



6S2 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 







, 




What the result would 






h 


^ 


have been had the in- 






"a o 


fiuence of the Public- 






II 


fa 

«4H ^ . 


house been eliminated. 










T> - i 


a, O 


o"'^ >^ 


assuming 


assuming 




Kegis- 


cS'Srd 


fe 1 


that each 


that each 




tered 


S^s 


^§1 


"On "Li- 


"On "Li- 


Name of Constituency. 


Number 


111 




censed House 


censed House 




of 


caused the 


caused the 




T^1pr*f.nrs 


^^s 


^'^S s 


Transfer of 


Transfer of 




JJJIC^^ wV^XS* 


^^ 


'Slo 


one vote 


two votes 








"ts Oi 


from the 


from the 






^o 


l-l 


Liberal to the 


Liberal to the 






'% > 


Conservative 


Conservative 






C^ "*^ 


r'^ 


or Liberal- 


or Liberal- 






a 


S 


Unionist 


Unionist 






1^ 




Candidate. 


Candidate. 


Cheshire (Crewe) . . . 


12,018 


550 


247 


___ 


Gain. 


Christchurch . . . , 


7,477 


84 


154 


Gain. 


— 


Cornwall, North- West 












{Camborne) .... 


7,800 


462 


160 


— 


Gain. 


Cornwall {Truro) . . . 


9,057 


270 


186 


Gain. 


— 


Cormcall, South-East 












{Bodmin) 


9,607 


543 


197 


— 


Gain, 


Coventry 


10,926 


350 


224 


Gain. 


— 


Cumberland, West (Eg- 












remont) 


10,424 


131 


214 


Gain. 


— 


Cumberland, Mid. (Pen- 












rith) 


8,914 


600 


183 





Gain. 


Denbigh District . . . 


3,751 


229 


77 


— 


Gain. 


Derby (one seat) . . . 


17,379 


291 


357 


Gain. 


— 


Derbyshire (High Peak) 


10,397 


502 


214 


— 


Gain. 


Derbyshire (South) . . 


13,347 


887 


274 


— 


Gain. 


Devonshire, North-West 












{Barnstaple) .... 


10,885 


68 


224 


Gain. 


— 


Devonshire (Torquay) . 


10,039 


175 


206 


Gain. 


— 


Dudley 


14,831 


741 


305 


— 


Gain. 


Durham {South-East) . 


14,702 


114 


302 


Gain. 


— 


Essex, East (Maldon) . 


10,041 


610 


206 


— 


Gain. 


Exeter 


8,198 


494 


168 


— 


Gain. 


Finsbury (Eastern) . . 


5,840 


270 


120 


— 


Gain.. 


Glamorganshire (South) 


14,227 


825 


292 


— 


Gain. 


Gloucester 


6,900 


473 


142 


— 


Gain. 


Gloucestershire, Mid. 












(Stroud) 


11,558 


661 


237 


— 


Gain. 


Gloucestershire, East 












(Cirencester) .... 


9,825 


215 


202 


Gain. 


— 


Great Yarmouth . . . 


8,139 


635 


167 


— 


Gain. 


Hackney (Central) . . 


8,835 


312 


182 


Gain. 


— 



APPENDICES 



683 







, 




What the result would 






> CO 


J, 


have been had the in- 






II 


fl <x> 


fluence of the Public- 




Eegis- 


jj 




house been eliminated. 




assuming 


assuming 




■^'^^ 


^^p 


that each 


that each 




tered 


^^ § 


^ ^ § 


"On "Li- 


" On " Li- 


Name of Constituency. 


Number 


^i| 




censed House 


censed House 




of 


f l-S 


caused the 


caused the 




Electors 


g^g 


^'^g 


Trans ler of 


Transfer of 




J^±^V/UfV/X o* 




Is" 


one vote 

from the 


two votes 

from the 






^0 


|a 


Lxberal to the 


Liberal to the 






'0 > 


Conservative 


Conservative 






'a'-*^ 


■^ 


or Liberal- 


or Liberal- 






^ 


W 


Unionist 


Unionist 








Candidate. 


Candidate. 


Hackney (South) . . . 


12,360 


319 


254 


Gain. 





Hartlepool 


10,999 


81 


226 


Gain. 


— 


Hastings 


7,292 


342 


150 


— 


Gain. 


Hull (East) 


10,419 


150 


214 


Gain. 


— 


Huntingdonshire, South 












(Huntingdon) . . . 


5,435 


351 


112 


— 


Gain. 


Isle of Wight .... 


13,816 


446 


284 


Gain. 


— 


Ipswich, 2nd seat . . . 


9,619 


43 


198 


Gain. 


— 


Kidderminster .... 


4,195 


295 


86 


— 


Gain. 


King's Lynn .... 


2,979 


69 


61 


Gain. 


— 


Lambeth {North) . . . 


7,338 


401 


151 


— 


Gain. 


Lancashire^ North{North 












Lonsdale) 


9,458 


703 


194 


— 


Gain. 


Lancashire, North (Lan- 












caster) 


10,778 


634 


221 


— 


Gain. 


Lancashire, North-East 












(Darwen) 


14,220 


841 


292 


— 


Gain. 


Lancashire, South-East 












(Heywood) .... 


9,334 


556 


192 


— 


Gain. 


Lancashire, South-East 












(Middleton) .... 


12,446 


865 


256 


— 


Gain. 


Lancashire, South-East 












(Eadcliffe - c. - Farn- 












worth) 


11,259 


602 


231 


— 


Gain. 


Lancashire, Soutli-East 












(Eccles) 


12,917 


420 


265 


Gain. 


— 


Lancashire, South- West 












(Southport) .... 


11,523 


764 


237 


— 


Gain. 


Lancashire, South- West 












(Widnes) 


8,998 


517 


185 


— 


Gain. 


Lancashire, South- West 












(Ince) 


10,935 


445 


225 


Gain. 


— 



684 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 







J, 




What the result would 








„ 


have been 


had the in- 






a 05 


fluence of the Public- 








?a 


house been eliminated. 




Regis- 


5r; '=^ s 


assuming 
that each 


assuming 
that each 




tered 


i^l 


^P§ 


"On "Li- 


"On "Li- 


Name of Constituency. 


Number 


l-^i 


|»l 


censed House 


censed House 




of 


f §^ 


caused the 


caused the 




Electors. 


^Mf. 


^^i 


Transfer of 


Transfer of 




^■'^ 


'^ ^Q 


one vote 


two votes 






^h- 1 


-Sg" 


from the 


from the 






^o 


¥ 


Liberal to the 


Liberal to the 






•c <» 


Conservative 


Conservative 






.^■5 




or Liberal- 


or Liberal- 








H 


Unionist 


Unionist 








Candidate. 


Candidate. 


Leeds (Central) . . . 


10,353 


654 


213 





Gain. 


Lincoln 


8,068 


218 


166 


Gain. 


— 


Lincolnsliire (South 












Kesteven or Stamford) 


9,657 


389 


198 


Gain. 


— 


Lincolnshire {Holland 












or Spalding) .... 


12,775 


349 


262 


Gain. 


— 


Liverpool {Exchange) . 


7,063 


254 


145 


Gain. 


— 


Manchester (North-East) 


9,893 


241 


203 


Gain. 


— 


Manchester (East) . . 


11,991 


776 


246 


— 


Gain. 


Manchester {South) . . 


10,945 


78 


225 


Gain. 


— 


Manchester(South-West) 


9,496 


498 


195 


— 


Gain. 


Monmouthshire (South) 


14,137 


612 


290 


— 


Gain. 


Montgomery District . 


3,030 


84 


62 


Gain. 


— 


Newcastle - upon - T^me, 












2 seats 


32,373 


308 


665 


Gain. 


— 


Newcastle - upon - Tyne, 












2 seats 


— 


1,679 


— 


— 


Gain. 


Newington (Walworth) 


7,430 


553 


153 


— 


Gain. 


Norfolk (South-West) . 


9,119 


206 


187 


Gain. 


— 


Northampton, 2nd seat . 


11,442 


117 


235 


Gain. 


— 


Northamptonshire (Mid.) 


11,714 


282 


241 


Gain. 


— 


Norwich, 2 seats . . . 


17,494 


704 


359 


Gain. 


— 


Norwich, 2 seats . . . 


— 


956 


— 


— 


Gain. 


Nottingham (East) . . 


11,818 


165 


243 


Gain. 


— 


Nottingham (South) . . 


11,377 


433 


234 


Gain. 


— 


Oldham, 2 seats . . . 


28,783 


216 


591 


Gain. 




Oldham, 2 seats . . . 


— 


993 


— 


Gain. 




Oxfordshire, South (Hen- 












ley) 


8,932 


361 


184 


Gain. 


— 


Pembroke District . . 


6,299 


179 


129 


Gain. 


— 


Peterborough .... 


4,787 


242 


98 


— 


Gain. 


Plymouth, 1st seat . . 


13,460 


277 


277 


Gain. 


— 



APPENDICES 



68f 











What the result would 






C3 

t 2 


~ 


have been had the in- 






sS 


?| 


fluence of the Public- 




Regis- 


®.2 


house been eliminated. 




assuming 


assuming 




-5 ^'d 


f- S fl 


that each 


that each 




tered 


2f?s 


grog 


"On" Li- 


«'0n" Li- 


Name of Constituency. 


Number 


^-il 


l»i 


censed House 


censed House 




of 


r^ ^B 


caused the 


caused the 




Electors 


&^ gi 


'^^g 


Transfer of 


Transfer of 




LJ±K:j\jV\Ji. o- 


-^^ 


?. "6 


one vote 


two votes 








-i§ 


from the 


from the 






^O 


.|J 


Liberal to the 


Liberal to the 






■g s 


Conservative 


Conservative 






o > 


-ij 


or Liberal- 


or Liberal- 






i 


H 


Unionist 


Unionist 








Candidate. 


Candidate. 


Radnorsliire . . . . - 


4,838 

9,104 

11,782 


8 
351 
422 


99 
187 
242 


Gain. 
Gain. 
Gain. 




Reading .... 







Rochdale .... 







St. Helens . . . 




9,950 
7,256 


609 
211 


204 
149 


Gain. 


Gain. 


St. Pancras (Nortli) 






St. Pancras (East) 




6,988 


289 


144 


— 


Gain. 


Salford (North) . 




8,828 


6 


181 


Gain. 


— 


Salford (West) . . 




10,439 


100 


214 


Gain. 


— 


Salford (South) . . 




9,215 


74 


189 


Gain. 


— 


Salisbury .... 




2,799 
6,661 


217 


58 


, 


Gain. 


Shoreditch (Haggerston) 


31 


137 


Gain. 




Somersetshire (North) . 


10,208 


686 


210 


— 


Gain. 


Somersetshire (Frome) . 


11,633 


383 


239 


Gain. 


— 


Southampton (one seat). 


14,725 


246 


303 


Gain. 


— 


South wark(Bermondsey) 


10,935 


360 


225 


Gain. 


— 


Staffordshire (Leek) . . 


11,182 


614 


230 


— 


Gain. 


Staffordshire (North- 












West) 


14,657 
11,062 


668 


301 





Gain. 


Stockport, 2 seats . . . 


134 


227 


Gain. 




Stockport, 2 seats . . . 


— 


848 


— 


— 


Gain. 


Stoke-on-Trent .... 


11,107 


200 


228 


Gain. 





Suffolk, South - East 












(Woodbridge) . . . 


12,053 


632 


248 


— 


Gain. 


Sunderland, 1st seat . . 


22,408 


1,634 


460 


— 


Gain. 


Sussex, South (East- 












bourne) 


10,563 


60 


217 


Gain. 





Swansea 


9,091 


421 


187 




Gain. 


Tower Hamlets (St. 












George's-in-East) . . 


3,824 


4 


79 


Gain. 


— 


Tower Hamlets (Stepney) 


6.048 


472 


124 


— 


Gain. 


Tynemouth 


7',659 
11,015 


209 


157 


Gain. 





Walsall 


317 


226 


Gain. 









6S6 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 







i 




Wbat tbe result would 






s» 


•> 


bave been bad tbe in- 








Ao 


fluence of tbe Public- 








?l 


bouse been eliminated. 




assuminsf 


assuming 
that each 




Regis- 


:g-S^ 


m a> P 


that each 




tered 


%^^ 


l§0 


"On" Li- 


"On" Li- 


Name of Constituency. 


Number 


O ^ f- 


§1-^ 


censed House 


censed House 




of 


'^^^ 


^^^ 


caused the 


caused the 




Electors. 


^^z 


S-^g 


Transfer of 


Transfer of 




^•a 


11^ 


one vote 

from the 


two votes 

from the 






.-a ° 


£•2 


Liberal to the 


Liberal to the 






'S ? 


•r3i-H 


Coupervative 


Conservative 






o t> 


^ 


or Liberal- 


or Liberal- 








^ 


Unionist 


Unionist 








Candidate. 


Candidate. 


Warrington 


8,449 


675 


174 


_ 


Gain. 


Warwickshire, Soutli- 












East(Eugby) . . . 


9,777 


284 


201 


Gain. 


— 


Wednesbury 


10,855 


191 


223 


Gain. 


— 


West Ham (North) 


14,294 


704 


294 


— 


Gain. 


West Ham (South) . . 


15,745 


775 


323 


— 


Gain, 


Wiltshire, West (West- 












bury) 


9,777 


166 


201 


Gain. 


— 


Wiltshire, East (Devizes) 


9,156 


477 


188 


— 


Gain. 


Wiltshire,South(Wilton) 


8,511 


263 


175 


Gain. 


— 


Wiltshire, North (Crick- 












lade) 


10,994 


99 


226 


Gain. 


— 


Wiltshire, North- West 












(Chippenham) . . . 


8,291 


508 


170 


— 


Gain. 


Wolverhampton . . . 


10.070 


823 


207 


— 


Gain. 


York City, 1st seat . . 


li;807 


302 


243 


Gain. 


— 


Yorkshire (Richmond) . 


10,669 


584 


219 


— 


Gain. 


Yorkshire (Skipton) . . 


11,096 


139 


228 


Gain. 


— 


Yorkshire (Shipley) . . 


14,353 


78 


295 


Gain. 


— 


Yorkshire (Doncaster) . 


14,247 


141 


293 


Gain. 


— 


Yorkshire (Ripon) . . 


10,219 


702 


210 


— . 


Gain. 


Yorkshire (Otley) . . . 


11,038 


48 


227 


Gain. 


— 



APPENDICES 



6S7 







. 




What the result would 






CD 


. 


have been had the in- 






i m 


fluence of the Public- 




Regis- 


?l 


house been eliminated. 




assuming 


assuming 




^S'p'^' 


S 1 § 


that each 


that each 




tered 


2^5 S 


111 


"On" Li- 


♦' On" Li- 


Name of Constituency. 


Number 


•2-7^ U 


censed House 


censed House 




of 


r^ ^^ 


S-i 


caused the 


caused the 




TTil Apf.nrs 


^^2 


Transfer of 


Transfer of 




-EJlOt/liUlD. 


B. 


% ^6 


one vote 


two votes 






-S i=i^ 


from the 


from the 






rS '^ 


1 s 


Liberal to the 


Liberal to the 






2 


•43^ 


Conservative 


Conservative 






•1:^ 


^ 


or Liberal- 


or Liberal- 






|-" 


Unionist 


Unionist 








Candidate. 


Candidate. 


SCOTLAND 


636,097 










" On " Licensed Premises 












—7,402 












Argyleshire 


10,471 


135 


122 


Gain. 


—_ 


Ayrshire {South) . . . 


15,463 


550 


180 





Gain. 


Dumbartonshire . . . 


12,292 


33 


143 


Gain. 


— 


Edinburgh City {South) 


12,053 


97 


140 


Gain. 


— 


Elgin and Nairn . . . 


5,669 


128 


66 


Gain. 


— 


Falkirk District . . . 


9.363 


253 


109 


— 


Gain. 


Glasgow (St. Eollex) . 


14;724 


361 


171 


— 


Gain. 


Inverness-shire. . . . 


8,229 


100 


96 


Gain. 


— 


Kilmarnock 


12,027 


381 


140 


— 


Gain. 


Kirciidbrightshire . . 


5,842 


173 


68 


— 


Gain. 


Lanarkshire (South) . . 


9,136 


230 


106 


— 


Gain. 


Peebles and Selkirk . . 


3,504 


54 


41 


Gain. 


— 


Perthshire { TVest) . . . 


7,984 


292 


93 


— 


Gain, 


Stirlingshire .... 


14,329 


427 


167 


— 


Gain. 


Wick District .... 


2,278 


24 


27 


Gain. 


— 



Number of Liberal seats gained by the transfer of one vote = 83 )^ 
Number of Liberal seats gained by the transfer of two votes =69/ . 



152 



688 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



INFLUENCE OF THE LIQUOE TRADE ON 
PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS. 

Table of Contested Constituencies in England, Wales, and 
Scotland which returned Conservative or Liberal-Unionist 
Members at the General Election of 1892, in which the transfer 
of one or two votes for every ''On " licensed house from the. 
Conservative or Liberal-Unionist to the Liberal side would 
have affected the result. 

General Election, 1892. 



Name of Constituency. 



ENGLAND AND 
WALES 

"On" Licensed Pre- 
mises— 103,000 

Ashton-under-Lyne . . 

Barrow 

Bath, 2 seats .... 

Bath^ 2 seats .... 

Berkshire, North (Abing- 
don) 

Berkshire, South (New- 
bury) 





rt 






t « 


;; 




® g 


a 




1 « 


?l 




O-g 


=4-1 Pi . 


Eegis- 


0) o 




tered 


0% 


.ssl 


Number 

of 
Electors. 


wliicL 
iberal- 
retur 


Num 
edHo 

onstiti 




^^ 


o aO 




>>o 






^^ 


.^'^ 




•1^ 


^ 
H 




^ 




4,770,088 






7,012 


135 


151 


6,958 


422 


150 


6,922 


196 


149 


— 


257 


— 


8,585 


326 


185 


10,338 


650 


223 



What the result would 
have been had the in- 
fluence of the Public- 
house been eliminated. 



assuming 
that each 
"On" Li- 
censed House 
caused the 
Transfer of 
one vote 
from the 
Liberal to the 
Conservative 
or Liberal- 
Unionist 
Candidate. 



assummg 
that each 
"On" Li- 
censed House 
caused the 
Transfer of 
two votes 

from the 
Liberal to the 
Conservative 
or Liberal- 
Unionist 
Candidate. 



Gain. 



Gain. 



APPENDICES 



689 



Name of Constituency. 



Birkenhead 

Bolton, 2 seats .... 

Bolton, 2 seats .... 

Bristol (South) .... 

Camberwell (Peckham) . 

Cambridge 

Chatham 

Chelsea 

Cheshire (Altrincham) . 

Cheshire (Eddisbury) . 

Cheshire (Hyde) . . . 

Christchurch .... 

Clapham 

Colchester 

Cormoall, South-East 
{Bodmin) 

Cumberland, Mid. (Pen- 
rith) 

Denbigh District . . . 

Deptford 

Derbyshire (High Peak) 

Devonshire (Torquay) . 

Dorsetshire, North 

(Shaftesbury) . . . 

Dorsetshire (South) . . 

Dudley 

Essex, North-East (Har- 
wich) 

Essex, South (Eomford) 

Essex (South-East) . . 

Essex, South-West 

(Walthamstow) . . 





d 




> m 




it 




§^ 




^1 


Regis- 


2.2 


tered 


^^% 


Number 


^-il 


of 

Electors. 


> 2 q3 




^'h3 




>^^ 




-ij 




■t. 




> 




■«"-J3 




a 


13,031 


604 


17,772 


565 


— 


893 


11,887 


548 


10,861 


183 


7,362 


255 


8,629 


377 


12,585 


566 


11,048 


798 


10,232 


536 


9,629 


305 


6,294 


203 


12,124 


644 


5,000 


61 


9,263 


231 


8,733 


125 


3,521 


98 


13,066 


565 


11,122 


366 


9,404 


394 


8,714 


525 


8,310 


168 


15,303 


1,049 


10,924 


305 


16,750 


1,182 


11,960 


542 


15,323 


1,150 


















a> 






-t-> 




" 


a 









>> 


u 


m 











rO 


-1 


^ 


q 





s 


V 


_j3 


^ 


"-f 


p 


TS 


a 


6 












fS 








^ 










tq 







What the result would 
have been had the in- 
fluence of the Public- 
house been eliminated. 



281 
384 

257 
235 
159 

186 
272 
239 
221 
208 
136 
262 
108 

200 

189 
76 
282 
240 
203 

188 
179 
330 

236 
362 
258 

331 



assuming 
that each 
"On" Li- 
censed House 
caused the 
Transfer of 
one vote 
from the 
Liberal to the 
Conservative 
or Liberal- 
Unionist 
Candidate. 



Gain. 



Gain. 
Gain. 



Gain. 
Gain. 

Gain. 

Gain. 

Gain. 
Gain. 

Gain. 
Gain. 

Gain. 

Gain. 



assuming 
that each 
" On " Li- 
censed House 
caused the 
Transfer of 
two votes 

from tlie 
Liberal to the 
Conservative 
or Liberal- 
Unionist 
Candidate. 



Gain. 

Gain. 
Gain. 



Gain. 
Gain. 
Gain. 
Gain. 



Gain. 



Gain. 

Gain. 
Gain. 



Gain. 
Gain. 

Gain. 



44 



690 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 







, 




What tlie result would 








5 


have heen had the in- 






S.2 


05 

L. to 


fluence of the Public- 




Regis- 


house been eliminated. 




assuming 


assuming 




5 a TS 


^ g § 


that each 


that each 




tered 


Sp g 


-g^i 


♦• On " Li- 


" On " Li- 


Name of Constituency. 


Number 


-^^ 




censed House 


censed House 




of 


-fe ^^ 


caused the 


caused the 




Electors 


t^^ 


f '^ « 


Transfer of 


Transfer of 




iUX\^\j LKJi. 0* 




T3 oi 


one vote 


two votes 






1^g" 


from the 


from the 






§0 


S.2 


Liberal to the 


Liberal to the 






is 


•^lA 


Conservative 


Conservative 






•l-^ 


W 


or Liberal- 


or Liberal- 






1" 


Unionist 


Unionist 








Candidate. 


Canchdate. 


Exeter 


7,792 


555 


168 





Gain. 


Fulham 


11,266 


211 


243 


Gain. 


— 


Gloucester, South 












(Thornbury) .... 


11,867 


224 


256 


Gain. 


— 


Gloucester, North (Tew- 












kesbury) 


11,519 


903 


249 


— 


Gain. 


Grantham 


2,693 


33 


58 


Gain. 


— 


Greenwich 


10,256 


323 


221 


Gain. 


— 


Hackney (Central) . . 


8,951 


285 


193 


Gain. 


— 


Hammersmith .... 


11,534 


669 


249 


— 


Gain. 


Hampshire (New Forest) 


10,126 


755 


219 


— 


Gain. 


Hastings 


6,576 


449 


142 


— 


Gain. 


Herefordshire^ South 












{Ross) 


10,968 


457 


237 


Gain. 


— 


Hull (Central) .... 


12,350 


476 


267 


Gain. 


— 


Huntingdonshire, North 












(Eamsey) 


6,546 


37 


141 


Gain. 


— 


Huntingdonshire, South 












(Huntingdon) . . . 


5,479 


22 


118 


Gain. 


— 


Ipswich, 2 seats . . . 


9,384 


223 


203 


Gain. 


— 


Ipswich, 2 seats . . . 


— 


462 


— 


— 


Gain. 


Isle of Wight .... 


12,957 


461 


280 


Gain. 


— 


Islington (North) . . . 


10,782 


810 


233 


— 


Gain. 


Islington (South) . . . 


8,299 


321 


179 


Gain. 


— 


Islington (East) . . . 


9,872 


465 


213 


— 


Gain. 


Kent, South (Ashford) . 


14,314 


1,231 


309 


— 


Gain. 


Kent, North-East (Fa- 












versham) 


14,219 


204 


307 


Gain. 


— 


Kent,North-West (Dart- 












ford) 


14,227 


572 


307 


Gain. 


— 


Kent, South-West (Tun- 












bridge) 


12,494 


933 


270 


— 


Gain. 



APPENDICES 



691 







h 




What tbe result would 








;; 


have been had the in- 






® 


fluence of the Public- 






2 


T-3 


house been eliminated. 




Regis- 


lit 


assuming 
that each 


assuming 
that each 




tered 


xi0 2 


-^ S B 


"On" Li- 


"On "Li- 


Name of Constituency. 


Number 


•^5l 




censed House 


censed House 




of 


-^ S^ 


caused the 


caused the 




Electors. 


^^2 


Transfer of 


Transfer of 




-I^X^VVw-L w. 


^i 




one vote 

from the 


two votes 

from the 






So 


1 ^ 


Liberal to the 


Liberal to the 






s 2 


•43^ 


Conservative 


Conservative 






•l-^ 




or Liberal- 


or Liberal- 






^ 


Unionii^t 


Unionist 








Candidate. 


Candidate- 


Kidderminster. . . . 


4,236 


265 


91 


__ 


Gain. 


King's Lynn .... 


2,970 


11 


64 


Gain. 


— 


Lancashire, Soutli-East 












(Prestwicli) .... 


12,827 


155 


277 


Gain. 


— 


Lancashire, South- West 












(Southport) .... 


10,514 


584 


227 


— 


Gain. 


Lancashire, South-West 












(Widnes) 


9,014 


205 


195 


Gain. 


— 


Leeds (Central). . . . 


10,215 


113 


221 


Gain. 


— 


Leeds (North) .... 


12,294 


1,014 


265 


— 


Gain 


Lincolnshire (South 












Kesteven or Stamford) 


9,733 


124 


210 


Gain. 


— 


Lincolnshire (Sovith 












Lindsey or Hora- 












castle) 


9,555 


738 


206 


— 


Gain 


Manchester (North- 












East) 


9,449 


110 


204 


Gain. 


— 


Manchester (East) . . 


11,418 


398 


247 


Gain. 


— 


Marylebone (West) . . 


8,052 


437 


174 


— 


Gain. 


Montgomery District . 


2,936 


118 


63 


Gain. 


— 


Norfolk {South) . . . 


8,848 


753 


191 


— 


Gain 


Norfolk (South- West) . 


8,499 


338 


184 


Gain. 


— 


Northamptonshire 












(North) 


9,999 


669 


216 


— 


Gain. 


Northumberland (Hex- 












ham) 


9,954 


82 


215 


Gain. 


— 


Norwich, 1st seat. . . 


16,623 


907 


359 


— 


Gain 


Nottingham (South) . . 


11,010 


83 


238 


Gain. 


— 


Nottingham ( West) . . 


13,411 


301 


290 


Gain. 


— 


Nottinghamshire (Bas- 












setlaw) 


9,606 


402 


207 


Gain. 


— 


Oxford 


7,476 


120 


161 


Gain. 


— 



692 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



Name of Constituency. 



Oxfordsliire, South 
(Henley) 

Paddington (North) . . 

Plymouth, 2 seats . . 

Plymouth, 2 seats . . 

Pontefract 

St. Helens 

St. Fancras (South) . . 

St. Pancras (East) . . 

St. Pancras (West) . . 

Salford (South) . . . 

Salford (West) . . . . 

Scarborough . . . . 

SheiHeld (Hallam) . . 

Somerset (East) . . . 

Southampton, 1st seat . 

Staffordshire (North- 
West) 

Staffordshire (Leek) . . 

Staffordshire (Lichfield) 

Stalybridge 

Stockton 

Stockport, 2nd seat . . 

Surrey (Kingston) . . 

Sussex, South (East- 
bourne) 

Sussex, East (Eye) . . 

Tower Hamlets (Mile 
End) 

Tower Hamlets (Step- 
ney) 

Tynemouth 



Eegis- 
tered 

Number 
of 

Electors. 



8,731 

6,396 

12,431 

2,518 
9,370 
6,106 
6,598 
7,754 
9,060 
9,635 
4,877 
8,561 
9,208 



14,011 
10,961 
8,768 
6,703 
10,422 
10,577 



10,029 



-5,738 

6,069 
7,300 



to ^ 



•3 h't3 



419 

310 

160 

220 

40 

59 

437 

441 

42 

37 

40 

171 

643 

755 

529 

232 

363 
4 
346 
311 
110 
743 

363 
711 

273 

86 
338 



^ S 2 

(D m fl 

d P 



^ 



189 
138 
268 

54 

202 
132 
142 
167 
196 
208 
105 
185 
199 
296 

303 
237 
189 
145 
225 
228 
277 

217 
241 

124 

131 

158 



What the result would 
have been had the in- 
fluence of the Public- 
house been eliminated. 



assuming 
that each. 
"On" Li- 
censed House 
caused the 
Transfer of 
one vote 
from the 
Liberal to the 
Conservative 
or Liberal- 
Unionist 
Candidate. 



Gain. 
Gain. 
Gain. 
Gain. 



Gain. 
Gain. 
Gain. 
Gain. 



Gain. 

Gain. 
Gain. 
Gain. 

Gain. 
Gain. 



Gain. 



Gain. 



assuming 
that each 
"On" Li- 

censed House 
caused the 
Transfer of 

two votes 
from the 

Liberal to the 

Conservative 

or Liberal. 

Unionist 

Candidate. 



Gain. 
Gain. 



Gain. 
Gain. 



Gain. 
Gain. 



Gain. 

Gain. 

Gain. 
Gain. 

Gain. 



APPENDICES 



693 







, 




What the result would 








~ 


have been had the in- 








i 


fluence of the Pablic- 




Regis- 




^1 


house been eliminated. 




assuming 


assuming 




:S flrd 


a5 ^ fl 


that each 


that each 




tered 


^^S 


Isi 


♦• On " Li. 


"On "Li- 


Name of Coustituency. 


Number 


f^l 


il-^ 


censed House 


censed House 




of 


JZI fH " 




caused the 


caused the 




Electors. 


^^1 


Transfer of 


Transfer of 




^^ 


t^^ 


one vote 


two votes 








Z n^ 


from the 


from the 






^0 


g.S 


Liberal to the 


Liberal to the 






"S S 


1^ 


Conservative 


Conservative 






P .S 




or Liberal- 


oi- Liberal- 








H 


Unionist 


Unionist 








Candidate. 


Candidate. 


Wakefield 


5.274 


404 


114 





Gain. 


Walsall 


li;915 


237 


257 


Gain. 


— 


Warrington 


7,906 


585 


171 


— 


Gain. 


Warwickshire, Nortli- 












East (Nuneaton) . . 


10,336 


641 


223 


— 


Gain. 


Wednesbury .... 


11,201 


60 


242 


Gain. 


— 


Wigan 


7,390 


110 


160 


Gain. 


— 


Wiltshire, North- AVest 












(Chippenham) . . . 


8,205 


229 


177 


Gain. 


— 


Wiltshire, South (Wil- 












ton) 


8,413 


407 


182 


— 


Gain. 


Worcestershire, Mid. 












{Droitwich) .... 


9,786 


570 


211 


— 


Gain. 


Worcestershire, South 












(Evesham) .... 


9,586 


580 


207 


— 


Gain. 


York, 1st seat .... 


11,005 


230 


238 


Gain. 


— 


Yorkshire, North E id in g 












(Richmond) .... 


10,669 


159 


230 


Gain. 


— 


Yorkshire, East Riding 












(Holderness) .... 


9,670 


465 


209 


— 


Gain. 


Yorkshire, East Riding 












(Howdenshire) . . . 


9,499 


350 


205 


Gain. 


— 


Yorkshire, West Riding 












(East Ripon) .... 


9,799 


611 


212 


— 


Gain. 



694 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 







, 




What the result would 






c8 
> m 


J 


have been had the in- 






tt 


i © 


fluence of the Public - 




Eegis- 


®.2 




house been 


ehminated. 




assuming 


assuming 




-s s^ 


55 S § 


that each 


that each 




tered 


%^1^ 


-2 S § 


" On " Li- 


" On " Li- 


Name of Constituency. 


Number 


a-^ u 


^M 


censed House 


censed House 




o£ 


:a %B 




caused the 


caused the 




Electors. 


&J2 


Transfer of 


Transfer of 




^^ 


t^^ 


one vote 


two votes 






^1— 1 


Is 


from the 


from the 






^o 


8-2 


Liberal to the 


Liberal to the 






"Ss 


'^^ 


Conservative 


Conservative 






•^'^ 


H 


or Liberal- 


or Liberal- 






1 


Unionist 


Unionist 








Candidate. 


Candidate. 


SCOTLAND 


606,403 










*' On " Licensed Premises 












—7,600 












Ayrshire {North) . . . 


12,261 


448 


152 


— 


Gain. 


Dumfriesshire .... 


9,229 


274 


114 


— 


Gain. 


Glasgow (Camlachie) . 


9,716 


371 


120 


— 


Gain, 


Glasgow (Tradeston) . 


9,666 


169 


120 


Gain. 


— 


Greenock 


6,991 


55 


86 


Gain. 


— 


Kirkcndbrightshire . . 


5,700 


31 


70 


Gain. 


— 


Lanarkshire (Nortli- 












West) 


11,408 


81 


141 


Gain. 


— 


Lanarkshire (South) . . 


8,818 


368 


109 


— 


Gain. 


Perthshire ( West) . . . 


7,966 


369 


99 


— 


Gain. 


iSt. Andrew's Burghs . 


2,537 


112 


31 




Gain. 



Number of Liberal seats gained by the transfer of one vote = 72\. q-i 
Number of Liberal seats gained by the transfer of two votes = 59 J 



APPENDICES 



695 



PROHIBITION: SUPPLEMENTARY EVIDENCE. 

Density of Population of Prohibition States. 

It has already been pointed out as a noteworthy feature of 
the history of State prohibition, that in every instance where 
the system has been applied to States containing large urban 
populations the experiment has resulted in failure, and the 
system has ultimately been abandoned.^ 

The following tables, which are compiled from the official 
census returns, give the density of population of the two sets 
of States already referred to, (a) in the year in which each 
State adopted prohibition, and (b) in 1890 : — 



Table I.— Prohibition States. 





No. of Persons per Square Mile. 


State. 


When Prohibition 
was adopted. 


In 1890. 


New Hampshire .... 

Vermont 

Maine 

Kansas 

North Dakota 


34 

33 

17 

4 

3 


40 
34 
20 
17 
4 


Average density (5 States) 


18 


23 



^ It is to be noted, however, that several of the States that 
have abandoned prohibition as a State system have nevertheless 
made it possible of local enactment by substituting the principle 
of Local Option. 



696 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



Table II. 

States that have Tried and Abandoned Brohibition 

{i.e. as a State sj^stem). 





No. of Persons 


per Square Mile. 


State. 


When Prohibition 
■was adopted. 


In 1890. 


Rhode Island 

Massachusetts 

Connecticut 

Delaware 

Illinois 

Indiana ....... 

Michigan 

Iowa 

Nebraska 

South Dakota 


122 

125 

81 

43 

17 

32 

9 

8 

0-3 

4 


276 

269 

150 

71 

68 

60 

35 

34 

14 

4 


Average (10 States) . . 


44 


98 



Taking, therefore, the last census as the basis of com- 
parison, it will be seen that the average density of popula- 
tion of the States that have abandoned prohibition was four 
times as great as the average density of population of the 
States that have continued prohibition. ^ If we confine the 
comparison to the three most densely populated States in 
each of the two divisions, a still more decisive result 



appears, as the following figures will show :- 


— 




No. of Persons 

per Square Mile 

when prohibition 

was adopted. 


No. of Persons 

per Square Mile 

in 1890. 


1.— States that have continued 
prohibition. 

Average density of population 
of three highest States . . 

2.— States that have abandoned 
prohibition. 

Average density of population 
of three highest States . . 


28 
109 


31 
232 



1 It is important to notice that while the States that have continued prohibition 
are, without exception, sparsely populated States, no fewer than seven of the ten 



APPENDICES 



697 



Taking, again, the figures for the four States that gave 
longest trial to the experiment before abandoning it {i.e. 
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Michigan), 
and comparing the density of population in each State at the 
period when prohibition was first adopted with the density 
of population at the time of its repeal, the following result 
appears : — 









No. of 


Ko. of 


State. 


Prohibition 
adopted. 


Prohibition 
repealed. 


Persons per 

Square Mile 

when 

adopted. 


Persons per 

Square Mile 

when 

repealed. 




Year. 


Year. 






Massachusetts^ . 


1852 


1868 


125 


170 


Rhode Island^ . 


1852 


1863 


122 


150 


Connecticut . . 


1854 


1872 


81 


111 


Michigan . . . 


1855 


1875 


9 


24 



PROPORTION OP URBAN POPULATION. 

If we take the proportion of population living in towns 
of 30,000 inhabitants and upwards, a similar difference 
appears. 

The following tables give detailed particulars for each 

State :— 

(a) Prohibition States. 





Proportion of Population Living in Towns of— 


State 


30,000 


50,000 


70,000 


100,000 


inhabitants 


inhabitants 


inhabitants 


inhabitants 




and 


and 


and 


and 




upwards. 


upwards. 


upwards. 


upwards. 


New Hampshire . 


12% 











Maine .... 


5% 


— 


— . 





Kansas .... 


5% 


— 


— 





Vermont . . . 




— 





. . 


North Dakota . . 


— 


— 


— 


— 



States that have abandoned prohibition Avere sparsely populated at the time that 
they adopted the system. 

1 Re-enacted 1869, repealed 1875. 

2 Re-adopted 1874, repealed 1875. Re-enacted ISSG, repealed 1SS9. 



698 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



(b) States that have Abandoned Prohibition (i.e. as a 
State system). 





Proportior 


I of Population Living in Towns of— 


State. 


30,000 


50,000 


70,000 


100,000 


iuliabitants 


inhabitants 


inhabitants 


inhabitants 




and 


and 


and 


and 




upwards. 


upwards. 


upwards. 


upwards. 


Massacliusetts . 


47% 


36% 


34% 


20% 


Rhode Island . . 


38% 


38% 


38% 


38% 


Delaware . . . 


37% 


37% 




— 


Illinois .... 


31% 


28% 


28% 


28% 


Connecticut . . 


25% 


18% 


11% 


— 


Nebraska . . . 


18% 


18% 


13% 


13% 


Michigan . . . 


15% 


13% 


10% 


10% 


Indiana .... 


10% 


7% 


5% 


5% 


Iowa 


6% 


3% 


— 


— 


South Dakota . . 






— 


— 



FEDERAL PROSECUTIONS FOR ILLEQAL SALE 
OF LIQUOR. 

In discussing elsewhere (see pp. 131-4) the number of 
persons who take out Federal licences for the sale of liquor, 
it was pointed out that these do not include the whole of 
those who sell, inasmuch as many of the illicit liquor-dealers 
do not pay the Federal tax. Speaking on this point, Mr. 
E. L. Fanshawe says : '' Whether a larger number of per- 
sons shirk the United States tax in prohibitory than in other 
States, is a question to which a decisive answer cannot be 
given, but the allegation that this is the case would at least 
seem to be not devoid of probability." 

The " decisive answer " is, however, furnished by the 
Internal Revenue Commissioner's Annual Reports, which 
furnish particulars of the number of prosecutions entered 
by district attorneys against persons selling in various 
States without having paid the Federal tax. By the 
courtesy of the United States Commissioner of Inland 
Revenue we are able to give the actual figures for 
the North Atlantic States for several recent years. 



APPENDICES 



699 



Table showing the number of prosecutions reported by 
district attorneys as entered against liquor-dealers under 
the Internal Revenue Law of the United States : — 





Popula- 
tion, 1890, 


Number of Prosecutions. 


State. 


1891. 


1892. 


1893. 


1894. 


1895. 


1896. 


1897. 


Annual 
Average 
per 1,000 




















of popu- 




















lation. 


Prohibition — 




















Maine .... 


661,086 


67 


89 


86 


104 


98 


54 


48 


•118 


Vermont . . . 


332,422 


8 


11 


11 


20 


21 


6 


12 


•039 


New Hampshire 


376,530 


11 


8 


9 


5 


21 


8 


25 


•032 


Nan- Prohibition — 




















Massachnsetts . 


2,238,913 


135 


127 


257 


282 


449 


199 


44 


•095 


Bliode Island . 


345,506 


none 


3 


3 


28 


none 


none 


none 


•015 


New York . . 


5,997,853 


46 


43 


76 


30 


62 


51 


42 


•009 


Connecticut . . 


746,258 


5 


9 


19 


7 


2 


none 


none 


•008 


Pennsylvania . 


5,258,014 


13 


26 


14 


19 


28 


23 


18 


•004 



It thus appears that the number of prosecutions is higher 
in Maine (i.e. in proportion to population) than in any other 
of the North Atlantic States, while the proportion generally 
is higher in the prohibition States than in the non-prohibition 

States. 



THE LIQUOR AGENCr.i 

Table I. 

Transactions of the State Liquor Commissioner. 

Total Value of Sales. 

Year. Value. 

1887 $19,872-40 

1888 75,915-24 

1890 76,388-59 

1891 99,815-00 

1893 t . . . 130,812-29 

1898 39,497-45 

^ See p. 161. 



700 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 









Table II. 








Sales at the Portland Liquor Agency since 1870.' 


Years. ^"^'sS'"" 

or bales. 


Yparc! Total Value 
^^^''- of Sales. 


1870-71 .... $3,050-55 


1885-86. . . . $28,974-66 


1871-72 . 






6,677-00 


1886-87 . 






22,164-74 


1872-73 . 






19,340-62 


1887-88 . 






26,133-33 


1873-74 . 






— 


1888-89 . 






20,667-89 


1874-75 . 






— 


1889-90 . 






23,770-27 


1875-76 . 






1,748-82 


1890-91 . 






22,356-51 


1876-77 . 






6,500-00 


1891-92 . 






58,742-76 


1877-78 . 






18,025-00 


1892-93 . 






84,848-33 


1878-79 . 






9,786-54 


1893-94 . 






48,791-75 


1879-80 . 






— 


1894-95 . 






23,167-29 


1880-81 . 






26,850-00 


1895-96 . 






18,025-00 


1881-82 . 






— 


1896-97 . 






14,387-80 


1882-83 . 






19,615-50 


1897-98 . 






12,615-40 


1883-84 . 






. 20,885-69 


1898-99 . 






. 11,352-80 


1884-85 . 






. 20,520-31 











^ In a letter dated March 14th, 1899, Mrs. Stevens (of Port- 
land, Maine), President of the U.S.A. Woman's Christian 
Temperance Union, says :— " There are times when the drug 
stores dare to sell more freely than others, and this is true of 
some of the hotels ; so the sales at the agency varj^, not so much 
because of the health or sickness in the city, but because of the 
lax or strict enforcement of law, whichever it may be." 



APPENDICES 



701 



STATISTICS OF DHUNKENNESS (MAINE). 

The following tables give the number of arrests for drunken- 
ness in the principal cities of Maine. The list includes all 
the towns which had 8,000 inhabitants at the last census 
(1890). In considering the figures, it is to be remembered 
that, with the exception of a slight break of two years 
between 1856 and 1858, Maine has been continuously under 
Prohibition since 1846 : — 



POBTLAND {Maine). 





All Offences 


Eatio 


Drunkenness 


Eatio 




(Average No. 


per 


(Average No. 


per 


Years. 


of Arrests) . 


1,000. 


of Arrests). 


1,000. 


1852-1856 . 


. 875 . . 


36 . 


. 397 


. 


16 


1857-1861 ^ . 


. 1,330 . . 


51 . 


. 831 


. 


32 


1862-1866 . 


. 2,207 . 


78 . 


. 1,382 




49 


1867-1871 . 


. 2,031 . 


GQ . 


. 1,274 




41 


1872-1876 . 


. . 2,842 . 


. 88 


. 2,070 




64 


1877-1881 . 


. 2,262 . 


67 . 


. 1,436 




43 


1882-1886 . 


. . 2,177 . 


62 . 


. 1,298 




37 


1887-1891 . 


. 1,980 . 


55 . 


. 1,259 




35 


1892-1896 . 


. . 2,298 . 


59 . 


. 1,540 




40 


1897-8 . 


. . 2,432 . 


60 


. 1,691 




42 


1898-9 . 


. . 2,518 . 


. 61 


. 1,740 




42 




LEWISTOI 


V {Mar 


ne). 








J 


Lrrests fc 


)r Eatio 




Year 


s. D 


rankenuc 


ss. pel 


• 1,000. 


1890-lJ 


B94 


357 


. 


16 




1895- 


6 


362 




16 




1896- 


7 . . . . 


600 


. 


26 




1897- 


8 


583 


. 


25 




1898- 


9 


694 


. . . . 


29 





No Eeturns for 1859 and 1861. 



702 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



BANGOR {Maine). 



Years. 

1880-1884 

1885-1889 

1890-1894 

1895-6 

1896-7 

1897-8 

1898-9 



Arrests for 
Drunkenness. 
332 . . 


Eatio 
per 1,000 
. . 19 


849 . . 


. . 46 


1,067 . . 
1,256 . . 


. . 53 

. . 59 


1,382 . . 


. . 64 


1,195 . . 


. . 54 


1,043 . . 


. . 46 



BIDDEFORD {Maine). 

Arrests for Ratio 

Years. Drunkenness. per 1,000. 

1888-1892 259 .... 18 

1893-4 No returns. 

1894r-5 395 .... 25 

1895-7 No returns.^ 

1898-9 299 .... 18 



AUBURN {Maine). 

Arrests for 
Years. Drunkenness, 

1883-1887 48 . 

1888-1892 125 . 

1893-4 293 . 

1894-5 217 . 

1895-6 177 . 

1896-7 138 . 

1897-8 159 . 

1898-9 Ill . 

AUGUSTA {Maine). 

Arrests for 
Years. Drunkenness. 

1882-1886 195 . 

1887-1891 278 . 

1892-3 113 . 

1893-4 158 . 

1894-5 298 . 

1895-6 216 . 

18£6-7 429 . 

1897-8 355 . 



Ratio 

per 1,000. 

5 

11 

25 

18 

14 

11 

13 

9 



Ratio 
per 1,000. 
. 21 
. 27 
. 10 
. 14 
. 26 
. 19 
. 35 
. 29 



No Police Report published. 



APPENDICES 



703 



BATH (Maine). 

Arrests for 
Years. Drunkenness. 

1887-1891 200 . 

1892-3 174 . 

1893-4 196 . 

1894-5 180 . 

1895-6 135 . 

1896-7 125 . 

1897-8 128 . 

1898-9 364 . 



Ratio 
per 1,000. 

. 23 

. 18 

. 20 

. 18 

. 13 

. 11 

. 11 

. 31 



WATERVILLE {Maine). 

Arrests for Ratio 

Year. Drunkenness. per 1,000. 

1889-90 74 .... 11 

1890-91 76 .... 11 

1891-92 53 ... . 7 

1892-93 100 .... 13 

1893-94) 

1894-95 ) . . . . No returns. 

1895-96 ) 

1896-97 91 .... 10 

1897-98 No returns. 

1898-99 147 .... 15 

Note. — In Waterville, not all of those arrested for drunken- 
ness are recorded. The city marshal stated that the number of 
persons arrested hut not recorded would amount to about 20 per 
cent, of those recorded. Further, intoxicated persons who are 
making no disturbance and who are able to go home quietly are 
not arrested. This latter rule appears to be the general practice 
in Maine. 



EOCKLAND {Maine). 





Arrests for 


Ratio 


Year. 


Drunkenness. 


per 1,000 


1888 


... 131 . . 


. 16 


1889 


... 185 . . 


. 23 


1890 


... 221 . . 


. 27 


1891 


... 195 . . 


. 23 


1892 


... 298 . . 


. 35 



704 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



GARDINER {Maine). 

Arrests for Ratio 

Years. Drunkenness. per 1,000. 

1885-1889 219 .... 42 

1890-1894 326 .... 56 

1895-6 282 .... 44 

1896-7 378 .... 58 

1897-8 321 .... 48 

1898-9 474 .... 69 

HALLO WELL {Maine). 

Arrests for Ratio 

Year. Drunkenness. per 1,000. 

1895-6 20 ... . 6 

1896-7 50 .... 16 

1897-8 57 .... 18 

1898-9 35 .... 11 



STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIEE. 
Statistics of Drunkenness. 



Year. 
1894 
1895 
1896 

1897 



MANCHESTER. 

Arrests for 
Drunkenness. 
. . .1,445 . 
. . .1,557 . 
. . .1,507 . 
. . .1,347 . 



Ratio 
per 1,000. 
. 30 
. 31 
. 29 
. 26 



27 



1898 (1st 3 quarters 

only) .... 1,081 .... 

Note. — The above figures (Manc]iester)Jnclude only the arrests 
brought before the court. A large number of "drunks" are, 
however, arrested and discharged without being brought before 
the court. The city marshal stated that the number so dis- 
charged would average from 300 to 500 annually. 



Year. 
1893 
1894 
1895 
1896 
1897 
1898 



NASHUA. 




Arrests for 
Drunkenness. 

803 . . 


Ratio 
per 1,000 
. . 38 


...... 678 . . 


. . 32 


460 .. . 


. . 21 


540 . . 


. . 24 


301 .. . 


. . 13 


339 . . 


. . 14 



APPENDICES 705 





CONCORD. 




Year. 
1890 . . 


Arrests for 
Drunkenness. 
. . . . 327 . . . 


Ratio 
per 1,000. 
. . 19 


1891 . . 


. . . . 406 . . . 


. . 24 


1892 . . 


.... 403 .. . 


. . 23 


1893 . . 


.... 341 .. . 


. . 19 


1894 . . 


.... 367 .. . 


. . 21 


1895 . . 


.... 383 .. . 


. . 21 


1896 . . 


.... 488 .. . 


. . 27 


1897 . . 


.... 425 .. . 


. . 23 


1898 . . 


.... 507 .. . 
PORTSMOUTH. 


. . 28 


Year. 
1895-6 . 


Arrests for 
Drunkenness. 
.... 628 .. . 


Ratio 
per 1,000. 
. . 57 


1896-7 . 


.... 559 .. . 


. . 50 


1897-8 . 


.... 577 .. . 


. . 50 


1898-9 . 


.... 416 .. . 


. . 36 



STATE OF VERMONT. 

Statistics of Drunkenness. 

BURLINGTON. 



Year. 
1894 
1895 
1896 
1897 
1898 



Year. 
1893 
1894 
1895 
1896 
1897 
1898 



Tear. 
1898 
1899 



Arrests for 
Drunkenness. 
198 .. . 


Ratio 
per 1,000. 
. . 12 


253 .. . 


. . 15 


183 .. . 


. . 11 


...... 106 .. . 


. . 6 


113 ^ . . 


. . 6 


RUTLAND. 




Arrests for 
Drunkenness. 
...... 74 . . . 


Ratio 
per 1,000. 
. . 6 


68 . . . 


. . 5 


126 .. . 


. . 9 


Ill . . . 


. . 8 


47 . . . 


. . 3 


32 . . . 


. . 2 


ST. ALBANS. 




Arrests for 
Drunkenness. 
49 . . 


Ratio 
per 1,000. 
. . . 6 


60 . . 


. . . 7 




45 



7o6 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



MONTPELIEB. 

Arrests for Katio 

Drunkenness. per 1,000. 

1897-8 33 6 

1898-9 45 8 



Year. 



SEIZURES OF LIQUOE IN PORTLAND, MAINE. 

Statement showing the seizures of liquor made at a Port- 
land saloon (413, Commercial Street) in December, 1898. 
The saloon was one of 32 places at which 344 separate 
seizures were made in that month (see p. 168). The par- 
ticulars here given are typical of the rest: — 

1898. 
Dec. 1. Six bottles, each containing about one pint of lager beer. 
„ 3. Seven bottles, each containing about one pint of lager 

beer. One sprinkler, containing about three quarts 

of ale. 
6. One sprinkler, containing about one gallon of ale. 
8. Seven bottles, each containing about one pint of lager 

beer. One sprinkler, containing about one gallon 

of ale. 
10. Eight bottles, each containing about one pint of lager 

beer. 
12. One sprinkler, containing about one gallon of ale. 

One bottle, containing about one pint of whisky. 
14. Five bottles, each containing about one pint of lager 

beer. One bottle, containing about one pint of 

whisky. 
16. One sprinkler, containing about one gallon of ale. 

Six bottles, each containing about one pint of 

lager beer. 
19. Seven bottles, each containing about one pint of lager 

beer. One bottle, containing about one quart of 

whisky. 
21. Six bottles, each containing about one pint of lager 

beer. 
23. Five bottles, each containing about one pint of lager 

beer. 
27. One sprinkler, containing about one gallon of ale. 
29. One sprinkler, containing about three quarts of ale. 

Two bottles, each containing about one quart of 

whisky. 



APPENDICES 707 



TESTIMONY OF STATE GOVERNOES. 

Attention is sometimes directed to the fact that the 
Governors of the State, in their inaugural addresses to the 
State Legislature, have frequently referred in general but 
eulogistic terms to the benefits of the prohibitory law, and 
the fact is often quoted as evidence of the success of the 
prohibitory system throughout the State. The plea would 
seem to be, on the face of it, a strong one, and it is certainly 
not one that can lightly be put aside. At the same time, 
an examination of the political circumstances under which 
such statements are usually made goes far to weaken the 
force of the plea, and to inspire a distrust of the evidential 
value of the statements themselves. 

It is to be remembered, in the first place, that the 
Governors are popularly elected officials, nominated and 
'' run " by one or other of the two great political parties, 
and naturally eager in their public utterances to attract 
electoral support to their party. It is further to be re- 
membered that in Maine the rural districts — where the 
prohibition sentiment is admittedly strong, and the pro- 
hibitory law, as a general rule, easily enforced — exercise 
a greatly preponderating electoral influence in the State, 
inasmuch as they include at least three-fourths of the entire 
population of the State. It is not difficult, therefore, to see 
the possible political significance that may easily attach to 
such statements as have been referred to.^ 

^ " That which most keenly interests the people, though, of 
course, not all the people, is the regulation or extinction of the 
liquor traffic. On this neither party has committed or will 
commit itself. The traditional dogmas of neither cover it, 
though the Democrats have been rather more disposed to leave 
men to themselves than the Republicans, and rather less 
amenable to the influence of ethical sentiment. Practicallj-^ for 
both parties the point of consequence is what they can gain 
or lose. Each has clearly something to lose. The drinking 
part of the population is chiefly foreign. Now the Irish are 



7o8 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

Nor do the statements themselves necessarily contradict 
the contention of the present writers, supported as it is by 
overwhelming evidence, that the system has failed to meet 
the requirements of the towns. On the contrary, it is a 
significant fact that in several of the addresses that are 
constantly referred to, the emphasis of the eulogy is 
specially laid upon the success of the system in the rm^al 
districts. For example, Q-overnor Dingley, a prominent 
supporter of prohibition, in his address to the Legislature in 
1874, said :— 

"Where our prohibitory laws have been well enforced, few 
will deny that they have accomplished great good. In more 
than three-fourths of the State, especially in the rural 
portions, public sentiment has secured such an enforcement 
of these laws that there are now in these districts few open 
bars ; and even secret sales are so much reduced that 
drunkenness in the antral toivns is comparatively rare," 

Governor Robie in his inaugural address in 1883 said : — 

''There has undoubtedly been a difference of opinion 
among good and conscientious citizens in regard to the best 
mode of eradicating intemperance ; but there are few who 
are unwilling to admit that there has been a wonderful 
change for the better in public sentiment where the law has 
been rigidly enforced. In a large part of the State, embrac- 
ing more than three-fourths of our population [i.e. the rural 
districts] the liquor traffic is practically unknown." 

mainly Democrats, so the Democratic party dare not offend 
them. The Germans are mainly Republicans, so the Eepubli- 
cans are equally bound over to caution. It is true that though 
the parties, as parties, have been, in nearly all States, neutral, 
most Temperance men are, in the North and West, Republicans, 
most whisky-men and saloon-keepers Democrats. The Re- 
publicans, therefore, more frequently attempt to conciliate the 
anti-liquor party by flattering phrases. They suffer by the 
starting of a Prohibitionist candidate, since he draws more 
voting strength away from them than he does from the 
Democrats." — Rt. Hon. J. Bryce, The American Commomvealth, 
vol. II., pp. 25, 26. 



APPENDICES 709 

In a further reference to the subject two years later, 
Governor Robie said : — 

" The present law may, therefore, be considered sufficient 
to cover all violations of its provisions that can possibly 
occur, and its weakness seems to be in its non-enforcement 
by those officers whose duty it is to execute the laws of the 
State." 

Governor Bodwell, again, in his inaugural address to the 
Legislature in 1887, said : — 

"The situation in the State respecting the law may be 
briefly and candidly stated. In from three-fourths to four- 
fifths of the towns of the State, the law is well enforced and 
has practically abolished the sale of spirituous and malt 
liquors as a beverage. In the larger cities and towns, on 
the seaboard and at railway centres, it has been found more 
difficult to secure perfect compliance with the law, but it can 
still be said that at very few points in the State is liquor 
openly sold." 

Governor Burleigh, in the course of his reference to the 
question in 1889, said : — 

'' Long experience has demonstrated the wisdom and 
advantages of this policy. Yet like all other laws against 
public evils, that against the liquor traffic has its violators, 
those who wantonly disregard the interests of the com- 
munity and the authority of the State." 

Two years later {i.e. in 1891), Governor Burleigh in his 
inaugural address further said : — 

'' It cannot be denied that the law for the suppression of 
the liquor traffic is often violated, and that officials charged 
with its enforcement are frequently derelict in duty. But 
it is undoubtedly true that this condition of affairs is mostly 
confined to our cities and larger villages. ^^ 

Governor Powers, addressing the Legislature in January, 
1897, said :— 

"A large majority of the people of our State are thoroughly 
and conscientiously devoted to the principles and practice of 
temperance, integrity, morality and virtue, as a fundamental 
policy essential to our best development and growth. They 



710 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

believe that the restraining influence of onr prohibitory 
legislation has had a marked effect in eradicating the evils 
resulting from the liquor traffic. Doubtless there has not 
been a full realization of what the most ardent and enthu- 
siastic advocates of prohibition prophesied and hoped, but 
certainly great good has been accomplished. In most of our 
rural country toiuns the groggery is a thing of the past ; 
and we are moving in the right direction throughout the 
State. It is my conviction that what we need to-day is a 
more active public sentiment in our larger toivns and cities^ 
which will enforce the laws we now have, rather than addi- 
tional penalties that will make the enforcement more un- 
certain and difficult." 

A year later (January 13th, 1898) the scandal of unen- 
forcement in the towns of Maine had become so great that 
delegates from twenty-two towns waited upon the Grovernor 
(Governor Powers) at the Court House, Houlton, to present 
petitions praying for a faithful execution of the law. 

" Petitions were presented from twenty- two towns of Aroo- 
stook County, signed by about 2,100 persons. The petitions, 
which were all alike in nature, read substantially as fol- 
lows : — 

'' ' To Llewellyn Powers, Governor of the State of Maine ; 
The undersigned, adult citizens of Maine, respectfully repre- 
sent that, owing to the failure of officers in many cities and 
towns in Maine, the prohibitory law is openly and flagrantly 
violated, against the wishes and in defiance of the best ele- 
ment in the community, thus rendering the efforts of honest 
citizens inoperative ; therefore, we respectfully pray that 
special orders be given to all officials whose duty it is to 
enforce the law, thus making this year one long to be re- 
membered for the advancement of good morals, social purity, 
and the protection of our homes.' 

'' The petition from Fort Kent had a startling postscript, 
signed by the Catholic priest of the parish. It reads : — 

" ' For God's sake, for heaven's sake, for the sake of hu- 
manity, of morals, of social order, of honour and peace, may 
the State of Maine heed this petition, and deliver us from 
the rum plague, shame, scandal and degradation.' 



APPENDICES 711 

" Ministers of all denominations, representatives of the 
W.C.T.U., and loyal supporters of the temperance cause in 
all ranks, pleaded with the Grovernor to order the responsible 
officials to execute the existing law. The report in the daily 
press states : — 

" ' The general trend of all the addresses seemed to indicate 
a realization of an entirely farcical enforcement of the Maine 
prohibitory law, and an acknowledgment that under present 
circumstances Maine is practically governed by a low licence 
system. A perfect broadside of entreaty was fired at the 
Grovernor that he would use his official position to bring 
about a better enforcement of the law, in order, as the 
speakers expressed it, that the State might be saved from 
the scandal and the infamy of it. To unprejudiced observers 
the meeting seemed to be an appeal from its almost discour- 
aged supporters for the life of the Maine liquor law.' 

'' Governor Powers closed a long and apparently frank and 
sincere address with these words : — 

''^I believe that when the people are in earnest and are 
determined to enforce the prohibitory law here in Maine, it 
will be enforced. . . . These petitions which have been 
presented to me, asking me to issue orders to all officers 
whose duty it is to enforce the law, were evidently prepared 
without ascertaining what power I had in the premises. I 
have examined very carefully, and cannot find any power 
granted to me to ask any person or any officer to enforce the 
prohibitory law but the sheriffs of the different counties, and 
in case they refuse I cannot remove them. They are not my 
subordinates. I do not believe, moreover, that any one here 
desires me to do anything beyond my power, or that would 
excite adverse comment, nor do I believe that such a course 
would be beneficial to the cause of temperance.' " ^ 

The Portland Daily Press^ in commenting, in a leading 
article, on the meeting, said : — 

'^ The Governor disclosed the real difficulty of the situation, 
and the one that must be cured before we shall have any steady 
and stringent enforcement of the law, when he said that all 
^ ZiorCs Herald^ January 19th, 1898 



712 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

power resides in the people. If all power resides there, of 
course the power to enforce the prohibitory law resides there. 
If it be there, the people can exercise it if they desire to. 
The truth is that they do not now desire to, that is to say, 
do not desire to to its full extent ; and while this remains 
the case, all the proclamations which the Governor may issue 
commanding the execution of this law will not be worth 
much more than the paper on which they are written. The 
fountain of all law and all enforcement of law in this State 
is the people, and we need never expect that the stream 
which flows from it will rise above its source. The fact is 
that the advanced reformers are prone to forget several im- 
portant facts. One is that our government is not a govern- 
ment of the best, but of the average ; another is that all 
who shout, or even vote, for prohibition on occasion are not 
at heart sincere believers in the policy, and sincerely anxious 
to see it enforced." ^ 

Another paper — the Portland Argus — in also referring 
editorially to the meeting, said : — 

'^The response of Grovernor Powers to the petition asking 
that officers be instructed to enforce the prohibitory law, 
which he made at the mass meeting held last Thursday in 
Houlton, practically leaves the matter of enforcement where 
it was before. . . . The Grovernor cannot ask any other 
officers than the sheriffs to enforce the law ; but upon peti- 
tion he can appoint special constables with the powers and 
duties of sheriffs. That has been done in the past in some 
parts of the State with dubious results. The difficulty in 
the enforcement of the law lies back of the question of the 
adequacy of the machinery for that purpose. The difficulty 
lies in the law itself, a law which cannot enlist the public 
sympathy and support needed to make it effective. Of this 
fact the recurring and spasmodic agitations to compel en- 
forcement are sufficient proof. This latest mass meeting at 
Houlton is a case in point, and if we may judge from the 
tenor of the addresses made there, the prohibitory cause in 
Maine is conceded to be at its lowest ebb. ' The general 
^ Portland Daily Press, January 15th, 1898. 



APPENDICES 713 

trend of all the addresses,' says the Boston Herald report, 
' seemed to indicate a realization of an entirely farcical en- 
forcement of the Maine prohibitory law, and an acknowledg- 
ment that under present circumstances Maine is practically 
governed by a low license system.' That is about the size of 
it, and after all the experience we have had on the subject, 
there is not the slightest ground to expect that any material 
or permanent change can be effected. Prohibition spells 
failure, and the people of Maine are coming more and more 
to a realizing sense of the fact." ^ 

The Royal Canadian Commissioners, in referring to the 
testimony of the State Grovernors in their Report, says : — 

'^ The attention of the undersigned has been called to the 
inaugural addresses of the Grovernors of the State to the 
Legislature, since 1880, which refer to the prohibitory law. 
In Appendix No. 169 will be found copies of the portions of 
these addresses which relate to that law. They must, of 
course, be read as the utterances of public men engaged in 
party politics in the State. Statistics or other evidence in 
support of the statements made in regard to the beneficial 
effects of the law are not supplied, and it is impossible to 
ignore the fact that there are many other public men taking 
part in the affairs of the State whose opinions do not agree 
with those expressed in these addresses." 

THE REACTION AGAINST PROHIBITION. 

In view of all the facts, it is hardly matter for surprise 
that a lurking distrust of prohibition as a practicable 
scheme of politics is steadily asserting itself even in 
quarters that once were favourable to the system, and that 
recent elections give evidence of a growing reaction against 
the law in several of the prohibition States. 

That there is such a reaction, no one who has followed the 
history of the experiment at all closely can doubt. A refer- 
ence to the table given on an earlier page ^ shows that pro- 
hibition has been adopted at various periods by no fewer 
than sixteen States, and compulsorily enforced, by order of 

^ Portland Argus, Jannaiy 15th, 189S. - See p. 121. 



714 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

the Federal Government, in one territory (Alaska). It con- 
tinues in force in iive States only. The tide of prohibitionist 
sentiment seems to have reached its highest point in 1855, 
when there were twelve States under prohibition. Then the 
ebb began. In 1867 there were only seven States under a 
prohibitory law, while the lowest point was reached in 1877, 
when only five States supported the system. In 1887, the 
average point of seven was again reached, but the number 
has since been reduced to five. It would seem, therefore, 
that in the United States, at least, legislative prohibition is 
not progressing, and this is further evidenced by an analysis 
of the votes polled on the issue of prohibition {i.e. as a 
Constitutional Amendment) since 1880. The details of the 
votes are given below, and a reference to the table will show 
that out of twenty elections at which the question has been 
submitted since 1880, prohibition has been carried in seven 
and negatived in thirteen. The true value of the figures is 
shown by the following considerations : Eirst, taking the 
seven successful elections, it will be seen that out of a total 
poll of 1,249,035 votes, the majority in favour of prohibition 
was 179,877, while no fewer than 250,772 persons abstained 
from voting as compared with the number that voted at the 
nearest political election. In other words, taking the total 
votes polled in the same States at the nearest political 
election as the basis of comparison, the total vote in favour 
of prohibition in the seven successful States was short of 
an actual majority of the voters in those States by 35,448 
votes. 

If we take the whole of the elections at which the issue 
was raised, we find that out of a total poll of 3,857,525, the 
total number of votes cast in favour of prohibition was 
1,768,239, while no fewer than 884,364, persons abstained 
from voting as compared with the number that voted at the 
nearest political election. Or, to put it in another way, the 
total prohibition vote was no less than 160,523 votes short 
of one-half of the votes actually polled, and 602,705 votes 
short of one-half of the votes cast at the nearest political 
election. 



APPENDICES 



715 



Table Showing the Votes on Constitutional Amend- 
ments IN Favour of Prohibition in Various 
States since 1880. 











i Number 






Vote on the 






not vot- 






Amendment. 






ing (i e. 
as com- 








pared 


state. 


Year 


For Pro- 


Against 


Majority 


Majority 


with vote 






hibition. 


Pro- 
hibition, 


for. 


against. 


taken at 
nearest 
poUtical 
:election 
in each 
State). 


Kansas .... 


1880 


91,874 


84,037 


7,837 




25,325 


Iowa . . . 






1882 


155,436 


125,677 


29,759 




10,935 


Ohioi. . . 






1883 


323,189 


240,975 


82,214 




157,146 


Maine . . 






1884 


70,783 


23,811 


46,972 




47,819 


Bhode Island 






1886 


15,113 


9,230 


5,883 




2,532 


Michigan . 






1887 


178,636 


184,281 




5,645 


17,968 


Texas . . 






1887 


129,270 


220,627 




91,357 


7,616 


Tennessee . 






1887 


117,504 


145,197 




27,693 


41,083 


Oregon . . 






1887 


19,973 


27,958 




7,985 


7,023 


West Virginia 




1888 


41.668 


76,555 




34,887 


41,317 


New Hampshire 




1889 


25,786 


30,976 




5,190 


34,160 


Massachusetts 




1889 


85,242 


131,062 




45,820 


128,218 


Pennsylvania 




1889 


296,617 


484,644 




188,027 


216,307 


Rhode Islands 




1889 


9,956 


28,315 




18,359 


4,840 


South Dakota 




1889 


39,509 


33,456 


6,053 




4,862 


North Dakota 




1889 


18,552 


17,393 


1,159 




2,153 


Washington . 




1889 


19,546 


31,489 




11,943 


7,408 


Connecticut . 




1889 


22,379 


49,974 




27,595 


81,625 


Nebraska . . 




1890 


82,296 


111,728 




29,432 


20,066 


South Dakota 2 




1896 


24,910 


31,901 




6,991 
500,924 


25,966 


Total . . . 


1,768,239 


2,089,286 


179,877 


884,364 



^ Although the majority of votes cast were recorded in favour 
of the Amendment, it did not receive the majority of possible 
votes, and hence under the State Constitution could not be 
adopted. 

^ This was the submission of the question of repealing pro- 
hibition. 



71 6 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



Scandinavian Appendix 

METHOD OF EFFECTING LOCAL OPTION IN THE 
EURAL DISTRICTS OF SWEDEN. 

In all parishes in Sweden (town or country) general 
meetings of taxpayers are held for discussion and decision 
concerning (a) Church and School matters ; {b) Communal 
matters. The latter alone need be considered here. 

All communes (including both towns and country districts 
called parishes) elect their own local government or repre- 
sentatives. The tow^ns elect a town council, which thereupon 
becomes the local governing body; while in the country 
parishes arrangements are undertaken by a Communal Board 
appointed by a general meeting of taxpayers summoned for 
that purpose. 

In the country "districts a system of cumulative voting 
obtains, the voting qualification of each elector being deter- 
mined by the amount of income taxed or property owned. 
In the towns, the voting qualification is also determined by 
income, but with greater restrictions than obtain in the 
country districts. 

The method of procedure in respect of licensing in the 
country districts is as follows : — A person requiring a 
licence makes application, in the first instance, to the Com- 
munal Board. The application, when presented, is con- 
sidered by the Communal Board, and, if approved, is then 
submitted to what is called a Communal Greneral Meeting 
{i.e. a meeting of the local taxpayers). This meeting is 
summoned by special announcement in the parish church on 
two successive Sundays previous to the date of the proposed 
meeting. The agenda to be submitted to such meetings is 
also required to be publicly read on each occasion when the 
notice of meeting is given. 






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717 



7i8 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

At this general meeting, the question of issuing the 
licence applied for is considered and a vote taken upon the 
application. This vote is again determined by the graduated 
system of voting noted above. If this Communal meeting of 
taxpayers refuses to grant the licence, the application is 
absolutely disposed of. But if the meeting assents to the 
application, it goes forward to the Governor of the province, 
who would probably signify his approval of such application 
if the applicant were a suitable person. Should the 
Grovernor, however, think the application an unsuitable one, 
he may veto the granting of the licence even although it 
has been approved by the Communal meeting. It is to be 
noted, however, that the Governor can in no case reverse the 
decision of the Communal meeting, if that decision has been 
unfavourable to the granting of a licence. The veto of the 
Communal meeting in this sense is absolute. 



RELATION OF CONSUMPTION OF SPIRITS TO 
NATIONAL TASTE. 

The rapid growth in the consumption of beer in Sweden 
might seem at first sight to lend colour to a suggestion re- 
cently made that the decline in the consumption of spirits 
in Gothenburg is due to a change in the national taste from 
spirituous to fermented drinks, and is not to be attributed to 
the operations of the Bolag. 

It was to be expected that if the sale of beer were left 
practically free, whilst a series of effective restrictions were 
placed upon the sale of spirits, the ultimate effect of such 
a policy would be to stimulate the sale of beer. But a 
result of this kind is not immediately produced, and an 
examination of the figures shows that the increase in the 
national consumption of beer did not take place prior to 1884, 
by which time a considerable reduction in the consumption 
of spirits in Gothenburg had been effected. 

The following table shows the relative consumption of 
spirits and beer from 1875 to 1896 :— 



APPENDICES 



719 



Year. 


Bar Sale of Spirits in 
Gothenburg. 


Consumption of Beer in 
Sweden. 


Litres per 
Inhabitant. 


Decrease. 


Litres per 
Inhabitant. 


Increase. 


1875-1879 
1880-1884 
1885-1-889 
1890-1894 

1895 

1896 


13-28 
9-51 

7-G3 
5-80 
4-98 
4-94 


28 per cent. 

S :; 

14 „ 
1 „ 


17-2 
17-6 
24-1 
30-7 
35-5 
42-4 


2 per cent. 

S ;; 

16 „ 
19 „ 



It will tlius be seen that, taking the period 1875 to 1884, the 
consumption of beer in Sweden remained all but stationary, 
while in the same period the bar sales of spirits in Grothen- 
burg show a reduction of 28 per cent. That the reduced 
consumption of spirits has been accomplished by the opera- 
tion of the Bolag is further shown by the experience of 
Norway, where, despite an important reduction in the con- 
sumption of spirits following upon the introduction of the 
Company System, the national consumption of beer is no 
greater than it was when the system was in its infancy. 
Petition Addressed by the Clergy in Gothenburg and 
ITS Environs to the Royal Governor of the Pro- 
vince OF Gothenburg and Bonus (November 25th, 
1898). 

" We the undersigned, clergymen in active service in and 
around the town of Gothenburg, having observed with great 
concern the public annoyance and other evil consequences 
caused by the beer-houses in the town being kept open on 
Sundays and holidays, hereby request that the Royal Gover- 
nor, availing himself of the authority given him by the 
Royal Statute of October 24th, 1885, Sec. 17, should decide, 
that in the beer-houses of Gothenburg no beer should be sold 
on Sundays and holidays, except to persons taking their 
meals there at the regular hours. 

" At the same time we would also submit to your considera- 
tion three other points closely connected with the subject of 
our petition as above made, believing as we do that you 



720 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

could, by giving your attention to these three points, greatly 
support the cause of Temperance and morality in the town 
and its vicinity. 

^' The first and most important point regards the so-called 
food licences, as mentioned in section 2 of the above-named 
Eoyal Statute. It is an open secret that many holders of 
licences for selling beer only to persons taking their meals 
have, contrary to the spirit of the law, made the sale of beer 
their chief business and the food an accessory only. It 
would be, therefore, highly desirable that you might, in 
accordance with section 6, par. 3 of the same Royal Statute, 
' in furtherance of good order,' issue such regulations as 
would materially tend to stop this abuse. 

" The second point regards the time for closing the beer- 
houses in the evening. It is most desirable that these places 
should as a rule be closed at the same time as public-houses, 
so that the customers of the latter might not when expelled 
therefrom continue their drinking in the beer-houses. 

" Finally, we should recommend as a suitable measure that 
the present number of beer-licences should be successively 
reduced, whenever the present holders, owing to death or 
other causes, cease to use them, so that eventually all these 
licences^ loith the exception of those connected ivith the 
serving of food, should come under the control of the Goth- 
enburg Public-house Licensing Conipaiiy — conducted ac- 
cording to the Gothenburg system^ 

The petition was signed by Bishop Rodhe, Dean Resell, and 
thirty clergymen. 

STOCKHOLM. 

Population (1877-8), 153,528; (1898-9), 291,580. 

" The motive which led to the adoption of the Company 
principle in the Capital of Sweden was essentially the same 
as that which actuated the originators of the joint Company 
in Gothenburg — to combat the great intemperance among the 
working-classes." In Stockholm there were 133 holders of 
permanent licences who renounced their privileges in con- 
sideration of life annuities involving, at the outset, an annual 



APPENDICES 



721 



charge of £6,829 6.s. This was effected through private 
arrangement with the individual licensees, the attempt at 
fixing a uniform rate of compensation having failed. The 
Company began operations on October 1st, 1877, with a com- 
plete monopoly of all the licences for conducting the retail 
and bar trade of spirituous liquors in the city. 

On September 30th, 1877, there were 193 public-houses in 
Stockholm. The next morning, October 1st, the number was 
reduced to 87. It is worthy of remark that no protest was 
made on the part of the classes who thus suddenly found 106 
of their customary resorts closed against them.^ 



BoLAG Sales of Spirits in Stockholm. 





Population. 


Total Sale. 


Consumption per Inhabitant. 


Year. 




In Bar 

Trade. 


At Eetail 
("Off") 


Total. 






Litres, 


Trade. 










Litres. 


Litres. 


Litres. 


1877-78 


153,528 


4,077,590 


13-82 


12-74 


26-56 


1878-79 


161,722 


3,863,529 


13-14 


10-75 


23-89 


1879-80 


163,040 


3,884,456 


12-75 


11-08 


23-83 


1880-81 


167,868 


3,923,180 


13-08 


10-29 


23-37 


1881-82 


174,702 


3,854,068 


12-40 


9-66 


22-06 


1882-83 


182,358 


3,703,591 


9-29 


11-02 


20-31 


1883-84 


190,842 


3,511,420 


8-53 


9-87 


18-40 


1884-85 


200,781 


3,735,619 


8-56 


1O05 


18-61 


1885-86 


211,139 


3,585,376 


7-59 


9-39 


16-98 


1886-87 


216,807 


3,572,830 


7-37 


9-11 


16-48 


1887-88 


221,551 


3,450,121 


7-11 


8-46 


15-57 


1888-89 


228,118 


3,382,135 


6-62 


8-21 


14-83 


1889-90 


236.350 


3,523,137 


6.49 


8-41 


14-90 


1890-91 


245,331 


3,448,075 


6-32 


7-74 


14-06 


1891-92 


248,051 


3,381,766 


6-14 


7.49 


13-63 


1892-93 


249,246 


3,488,825 


6-16 


7-84 


14-00 


1893-94 


252,937 


3,429,468 


6-03 


7-53 


13-56 


1894-95 


259,304 


3,613,155 


6-20 


7-73 


13-93 


1895-96 


267,100 


3,812,715 


6-51 


7-76 


14-27 


1896-97 


274,611 


4,280,961 


7-17 


8-42 


15-59 


1897-98 


283,550 


4,288,082 


7-07 


8-05 


15-12 


1898-99 


291,580 


4,847,469 


7-56 


9-06 


16-62 



Foreign Office Beport (Miscellaneous Series), No. 184. 1890 ; 

46 and 



122 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

Arrests for Drunkenness in Stockholm. 





Number of Arrests. 


Year. 






Total. 


Per 1,000 Inhabitants. 


1876-77 


7,245 


49 


1877-78 


6,102 


40 


1878-79 


5,883 


36 


1879-80 


6,123 


88 


1880-81 


6,341 


38 


1881-82 


6,784 


89 


1882-83 


6,173 


84 


1883-84 


6,684 


35 


1884-85 


4,796 


24 


1885-86 


5,943 


28 


1886-87 


6,925 


32 


1887-88 


7,536 


34 


1888-89 


7,862 


34 


1889-90 


8,215 


35 


1890-91 


8,350 


34 


1891-92 


8,117 


33 


1892-93 


7.957 


32 


1893-94 


8;024 


32 


1894-95 


8,327 


82 


1895-96 


10,176 


38 


1896-97 


11,848 


43 


1897-98 


10,801 


88 


1898-99 


12,138 


42 



Swedish Towns Possessing Spirit Bolags in 1896, 
Classified according to Population. 



8 Towns with a population of less tlian 1,000 . . 
43 „ „ „ 1,000 and under 5,000 



20 

16 

3 

2 

92 



„ 5,000 

„ 10,000 

25,000 

„ over 100,000 



10,000 

25,000 

100,000 



Total population of 92 towns 



Total 
Population. 

4,977 

105,318 

138,279 

243,741 

117,141 

897,210 

. 1,006,666 



and Le Systeme Suedois Reglant le Commerce des Boissons 
Fortes J by S. Rubenson, Cbief of the Police, Stockholm. 



APPENDICES 



m 



CONSUMPTION OF BRANVIN AND BEER IN 
SWEDEN. 

Table showing the total and the per capita Con- 
sumption OF Branvin and Beer in Sweden. 



Branvin of 50 per cent, alcohol. 


Beer. 




Total Con- 


Litres 




Total Con- 


Litres 

per head 

of the 

Population. 


Year. 


sumption 
Litres.i 


per head 

of the 

Population. 


Year. 


sumption. 
Litres,*^ 


1870 


43,004,162 


10-3 


1870 


_ 


11-1 


1871 


43,927,366 


10-5 


1871 


— 


121 


1872 


46,116,737 


10-9 


1872 


— 


15-2 


1873 


50,304,466 


11-8 


1873 


— 


16-3 


1874 


58,464,843 


13-5 


1874 


— 


15-1 


1875 


53,967,336 


12-4 


1875 


— 


16-5 


1876 


54,881,811 


12-4 


1876 


— 


15-9 


1877 


47,584,422 


10-6 


1877 


— 


17-0 


1878 


47,496,297 


10-5 


1878 


— 


20-5 


1879 


40,089,923 


8-8 


1879 


— 


16-5 


1880 


37,204,801 


8-1 


1880 


— 


16-3 


1881 


40,473,043 


8-8 


1881 


— 


18-3 


1882 


36,842,973 


8-0 


1882 


— 


15-8 


1883 


31,121,268 


6-8 


1883 


— 


16-8 


1884 


36,949,848 


8-0 


1884 


— 


20-8 


1885 


39,364,133 


8-4 


1885 


95,200,000 


20-3 


1886 


37,009,697 


7-8 


1886 


104,500,000 


22-1 


1887 


33,275,155 


7-0 


1887 


107,500,000 


22-7 


1888 


35,778,409 


7-5 


1888 


129,000,000 


27-2 


1889 


29,612,828 


6-2 


1889 


134,500,000 


28-2 


1890 


33,478,019 


7-0 


1890 


131,000,000 


27-4 


1891 


31,018,505 


6-4 


1891 


148,000,000 


30-9 


1892 


31,300,930 


6-5 


1892 


148,000,000 


30-8 


1893 


32,150,388 


6-7 


1893 


152,500,000 


31-6 


1894 


33,274,581 


6-9 


1894 


161,000,000 


33-0 


1895 


33,458,088 


6-9 


1895 


174,500,000 


35-5 


1896 


35,584,088 


7-2 


1896 


210,400,000 


42-4 


1897 


37,100,000 


7-5 


1897 


225,500,000 


45-0 


1898 


40,200,000 


8-0 








1 Dr. Sigfrid Wi( 


3selgTen, i 


a Luti 


e contre VAl 


coolisme en 


Sxiede^ 


p. 29. 











^ The statistics of Beer Consumption, 1870 to 1884, are based 
upon a table given by Mr, Koren in his Report to the Massa- 
chusetts Legislature. The figures from 1885 are taken from the 
Board of Trade Return— No. 57, 1900. 



724 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



CONSUMPTION OF BRANVIN AND BEER IN 
NORWAY. 

Table showing the total and the per capita Con- 
sumption OF Branvin and Beer in Norway, 1871- 
1899 1 :— 



Branyin of 50 per cent, alcohol. 


Beer. 




Total Con- 


Litres 

per head 

of the 

Population. 




Total Con- 


Litres 


Year. 


sumption. 

Litres. 


Year. 


sumption. 
Litres. 


per head 

of the 

Population. 


1871 


9,306,000 


5-3 


1871 


21,426,100 


12-3 


1872 


7,921,000 


4-5 


1872 


22,868,900 


13-0 


1873 


9,394,000 


5-3 


1873 


28,448,100 


16-1 


1874 


11,849,000 


6'Q 


1874 


33,922,900 


190 


1875 


11,842,000 


6-5 


1875 


41,926,900 


23-2 


1876 


12,268,000 


6-7 


1876 


38,703,100 


211 


1877 


11,067,000 


6-0 


1877 


39,573,500 


21-4 


1878 


8,472,000 


4-5 


1878 


38,947,700 


20-7 


1879 


6,192,000 


3-3 


1879 


38,242,400 


201 


1880 


7,462,000 


3-9 


1880 


29,143,600 


15-3 


1881 


5,803,000 


3-0 


1881 


31,068,800 


161 


1882 


7,240,000 


3-8 


1882 


30,946,800 


16-2 


1883 


6,357,000 


3-3 


1883 


33,803,000 


17-7 


1884 


6,692,000 


3-5 


1884 


32,573,000 


16-9 


1885 


6,840,000 


3-5 


1885 


33,203,100 


171 


1886 


5,905,000 


3-0 


1886 


26,366,900 


13-5 


1887 


5,569,000 


2-8 


1887 


26,128,900 


13-3 


1888 


6,023,000 


3-1 


1888 


30,631,900 


15-5 


1889 


6,338,000 


3-2 


1889 


30,849,200 


15-5 


1890 


6,156,000 


3-1 


1890 


37,327,400 


18-8 


1891 


7,328,000 


3-7 


1891 


43,206,100 


21-7 


1892 


6,438,000 


3-2 


1892 


41,374,500 


20-6 


1893 


7,142,000 


3'5 


1893 


41,995,000 


20-8 


1894 


7,628,000 


3-8 


1894 


40,215,900 


19-8 


1895 


7,111,000 


3-5 


1895 


36,269,300 


17-7 


1896 


4,827,000 


2-3 


1896 


33,671,600 


16-2 


1897 


4,637,000 


2-2 


1897 


37,600,000 


17-8 


1898 


5,566,000 


2-6 


1898 


46,217,400 


21-6 


1899 


7,247,000 


3-3 


1899 


50,274,200 


23-2 



^ Journal du Bureau Central de Statistique du Boyaume de 
Norvege. No. 3, 1898, pp. 53 and 56, supplemented by informa- 
tion furnislied by the Bureau of Statistics, Christiania. 



APPENDICES 



725 



The estimates of the consumption of branvin in the table 
given on an earlier page (see p. 476) for the years 1833 and 
1843 are taken from a pamphlet by Mr. Stang Conradi. They 
are not questioned by the Norwegian Statistical Bureau, and 
may be accepted as approximately correct. The official sta- 
tistics of the consumption of branvin do not give the yearly 
figures until 1871. The statistics of the consumption of 
beer are taken from the journal of the Norwegian Bureau of 
Statistics. The same journal, in its issue for 1898, adds a 
note to the effect that the figures for the consumption of 
beer are worked out upon the supposition that the total pro- 
duction consisted of so-called '' Bavarian Beer," which con- 
tains (according to analyses undertaken in 1896 f or Christiania) 
an average of 3*7 per cent, of alcohol. As part of the beer 
brewed is of a lighter kind, the figures of consumption ought 
to be somewhat increased. 



Consumption of Absolute Alcohol in Norway. 

The Norwegian Statistical Bureau gives the following 
table of the total per capita consumption of absolute alcohol 
(in spirits, wine, beer, etc.) in Norway, 1833-1898 ^ : 



Litres. 


Litres. 


1833 Estimated. . 8-5 


1886-90 Actual ... 2*2 


1843 do. . 




5-5 


1891 do. 






2-8 


1851-55 Actual 






3-6 


1892 do. 






2-5 


1856-60 do. 






3-2 


1893 do. 






2-6 


1861-65 do. 






2-7 


1894 do. 






2-7 


1866-70 do. 






2-9 


1895 do. 






2-5 


1871-75 do. 






3-6 


1896 do. 






2-1 


1876-80 do. 






3-3 


1897 do. 






2-2 


1881-85 do. 






2-4 


1898 do. 






2-5 



* Journal du Bureau Central de Statistique da Boyaume de 
Norvdge. No. 9, 1898, p. 216. 



726 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



SHAKE CAPITAL OF THE SCANDINAVIAN 
COMPANIES.i 

In both Sweden and Norway tlie capital stock of the Spirit 
Companies is exceedingly small. Thus in Norway in 1892 
(when the number of companies had reached its maximum of 
51) the total paid-up capital of the 51 companies was under 
£33^000. The largest amount of capital invested in any one 
company was £8,871 in Stockholm ; the smallest was £34 in 
Langesund. The paid-up capital of the Christiania company 
is £8,805, and that of Gothenburg £5,641. The smallness of 
the capital is very largely accounted for by the fact that the 
companies give no credit, and rent almost the whole of their 
licensed premises. Thus the Gothenburg Bolag owns only 2 
of its licensed houses, the Stockholm Bolag 3, and the Bergen 
Samlag 3, while the Christiania Samlag does not own any of 
its licensed houses. 

Table showing the Net Profits of the Swedish Bolags, 
AND also the Sums paid by them to the Municipal- 
ities FOR the Licences. 2 



Year. 


Number of 
Companies. 


Net Profits of 
Bolags. 


Additional sums paid to 
the Municipalities for ., 
Licences. 






£ 


£ 


1890-91 


88 


234,260 


98,698 


1891-92 


89 


260,634 


100,746 


1892-93 


87 


294,469 


99,461 


1893-94 


89 


317,670 


100,578 


1894-95 


91 


316,751 


101,205 


1895-96 


93 


368,181 


102,601 


1896-97 


92 


463,814 


59,280 


1897-98 


94 


510,667 


57,818 



Eor method of appropriating profits of liquor traffic in 
Sweden, see p. 751. 

^ Dr. Gould, Fifth Special Report of the Commission of 
Labour^ p. 202 ; and Dr. Gould, Popular Control of the Liquor 
Traffic, p. 13. 

2 Swedish OfEcial Statistics, 1896, 1897, 1898, 



APPENDICES 



727 



Table showing the Net Profits of the Norwegian 
Samlags, and also the Sums paid by them to the 
Municipalities for Licence Eights.^ 



Year. 


Number of 
Companies. 


Net Profits of 
Samlags. 


Additional sums paid to 

the Municipalities for 

Licence rights.2 






£ 


£ 


1890 


50 


76,925 


21,393 


1891 


50 


84,117 


22,533 


1892 


51 


88,411 


23,786 


1893 


51 


85,717 


25,059 


1894 


51 


91,756 


24,726 


1895 


51 


98,180 


25,419 


1896 


38 3 


64,082 


30,888 


1897 


35 


98,882 


— 


1898 


34 


117,584 


— 



RELATION OF DEPKESSED ECONOMIC 
CONDITIONS TO REDUCED CONSUMPTION OF 

SPIRITS IN NORWAY. 
It appears clear from an examination of official returns 
tliat the diminution in the consumption of spirits in Norway 
subsequent to 1876-7 is not to be attributed, except to a 
limited extent, to depressed economic conditions. For such 
conditions, it will be obvious, would affect not one commodity 
OTily, but pari passu all articles of consumption coming 
within the same economic category. Now, an analysis of 
the statistics of consumption of certain commodities {i.e. 
non-necessaries) usually most susceptible to the pressure 
of economic conditions reveals a startling discrepancy be- 
tween the alleged cause and the actual result. 

The results, indeed, instead of being, as might reasonably 
be expected, at least approximately uniform, are so manifestly 
disproportionate as to compel the conviction that, so far as 
the consumption of spirits is concerned, a much more power- 

^ Journal du Bureau Central de Statistique dii Boyaiime de 
Norv^ge. No. 9, 1898, p. 224. 

2 The Norwegian Municipalities based the charge for Licence 
rights upon probable sales. 

^ The number of Samlags in operation was 40, but returns 
are wanting for two of the smaller ones. 



728 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



ful factor has been at work. Taking as the basis of our com- 
parison the years 1878-80, when the economic depression is 
said to have been at its worst, and comparing the consump- 
tion of tobacco, coffee, sugar, and brandy, the following 
result appears : — 



Articles. 


Consumption in Norway per head of the 
Population.! 




1876 


18r8-1880 


Increase. 


Decrease. 


Tobacco Kilog. . . 
Coffee „ 
Sugar „ 
Spirits Litres . . 


1-21 
3-92 
4-98 
6-70 


1-12 

3-57 
4-57 
3-86 




74% 

9% 

8% 

42i% 



That is to say, while the per capita consumption of 
tobacco, coffee, and sugar had decreased 7 J per cent., 9 per 
cent., and 8 per cent, respectively, the per capita consump- 
tion of spirits had, in the same period, and concurrently with 
the establishment of the controlling system, decreased no 
less than 42*4 per cent. 

If, moreover, we compare 1876 with 1880 an even more 
striking result appears : — 



Articles. 


Consumption in Norway per head of the 
Population. 




18/6 


1880 


Increase. 


Decrease. 


Tobacco Kilog. . . 
Coffee „ 
Sugar „ 
Spirits Litres . . 


1-21 
3-92 

4-98 
6-70 


1-28 
3-73 
4-53 
3-90 


6% 


5% 

9% 

42% 



That is to say, while the consumption of spirits had 
decreased by 42 per cent., the consumption of tobacco had 
actually increased by 6 per cent. 

The particulars are more fully shown in the annexed table, 
which gives the consumption of the various commodities over 
a series of years : — 

^ The per capita consumption of tobacco, coffee, and sugar is 
based upon the official statistics of imports. 



p 
o 

i 

g 

O . 

O I> 

O 
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Tobacco Kilog. 
Coffee 

Sugar: Raw 
Kilog. 
„ Refined 
Kilo?. 
Spirits (50% al- 
cohol) Litres 
Proportion of 
the national 


sales of 
brandy made 
by the Sam- 
lags . . . 



729 



730 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

The conclusion is therefore irresistible that, whatever 
effect economic conditions may have had in reducing the 
consumption of spirits in Norway, they are utterly inadequate 
in themselves to account for more than a very small pro- 
portion of the reduction that actually took place. Had it 
been possible to deal exclusively with the consumption of 
spirits represented by the Samlag sales, instead of with 
the national consumption, the result would have been still 
more striking. 

It is true that in 1876, when the consumption of spirits 
was 6*7 litres per head of the population, wages were ab- 
normally high ; but the normal wages for skilled labourers 
in 1892, when the consumption of spirits had fallen to 3*2 
litres per head of the population, were fully equal to the 
abnormal wages of 1876, while the wages of day-labourers 
on roads, railways, and public works were about 5 per cent, 
higher in 1892 than in 1876, and the wages of servants under 
half-yearly contracts, both in urban and rural districts, from 
a quarter to a third higher ; and yet, notwithstanding this, 
the per capita consumption of spirits had declined by no 
less than 52 per cent. It is impossible, therefore, to escape 
the conclusion that we must look elsewhere than to economic 
conditions to find the true explanation of the remarkable 
reduction in the consumption of spirits that has taken place 
in Norway since 1876. 

THE GROWTH AND INFLUENCE OF THE 
TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT IN NORWAY. 

''In 1859 the first modern Total Abstinence Society in 
Norway was formed at Stavanger. Like most of the move- 
ments brought us from practical England, it first took hold 
of the lower classes, who did not theorize whether Total 
Abstinence or moderation was the more ideal thing per se, 
but who saw that Total Abstinence was the only practical 
remedy for saving drunkards, as well as the only solid basis 
of a thorough Temperance reform. After the introduction of 
the Total Abstinence movement the union against brandy 



APPENDICES 



731 



drinking^ died away slowly but surely, thougli it was 
supported by the Government, which contributed from 1844 
to 1869 a little over 120,000 kroner to this union. Up to 
1870 the Total Abstinence societies had not enrolled more 
than 2,000 members."^ The Good Templar Order began 
its operations in Norway in 1877, the Blue Ribbon Army in 
1879, and the World's Women's Christian Temperance Union 
in 1890. In 1893 the Good Templars of Norway numbered 
about 11,000 members. 

The following figures give particulars of the number of 
branches and returns of membership of the Norwegian 
Abstinence Society — the parent Society in Norway : — 





Norwegian Abstinence Society. 




(Establisl 


led 1859.) 


Ypnr 






X ctir. 


Number of Branches. 


Total number of 
Members. 


1876 


59 


8,000 


1877 


67 


9,000 


1878 


52 


7,000 


1879 


65 


No statistics 


1880 3 


99 


,, 


1881 


163 


J, 


1882 


250 


If 


1883 


328 


35,000 


1884 


480 


45,000 


1885 


579 


60,000 


1886 


605 


70,000 


1887 


643 


83,000 


1888 


720 


90,000 


1889 


801 


95,000 


1890 


843 


98,000 


1891 


853 


100,000 



^ The form of organized Temperance effort in the early daj^s of 
the movement, when beer was regarded as a Temperance drink. 

^ Mr. Lars 0. Jensen, Eight Worthy Grand Templar for 
Norway. 

* The statistics from 1880 include women and children, al- 
though the numbers of these were not stated separate! v until 
1889. In 1889 there were 34,000 women and 6,000 cliildren in- 
cluded in the membership ; in 1890, 41,300 women and 15,000 
children; and in 1891, 43,0()0 women and 15,000 children. 



732 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

It has occasionally been suggested that the great reduction 
in the consumption of spirits in the towns of Norway and 
Sweden has been due to the effect of Temperance societies 
rather than to the action of the companies. A suggestion of 
this kind indicates a want of perception of the special work 
and value of the Temperance organizations. Nothing can be 
more unw^ise than to place them in any position of rivalry or 
opposition to the companies. In Norway, as elsewhere, it is 
the union of the strong personal appeal with well-considered 
national arrangements that leads to lasting results. 

As was said on an earlier page, the great reduction in the 
consumption of spirits in Sweden and Norway has '' been 
brought about by the joint action of Temperance effort and of . 
wise national legislation ; the former could have done little 
without the latter, and, in both Sweden and Norway, its 
main service has been in creating the public opinion which 
was essential alike for the enactment, the enforcement, and 
the progressive improvement of wise and strong public law." 
Temperance teaching and effort made the abolition of free 
distillation possible, but if the public opinion created by the 
Temperance teaching had not been embodied in law, the 
domestic stills would soon have reappeared. 

The enormous reduction in the consumption of spirits in 
Bergen in the first year of its controlling company, as com- 
pared with the last year under private sale, was unquestion- 
ably due to the company. But its continued success has been 
due to the way in which Temperance thought has supported 
the policy of the Samlag, and so helped to create a public 
opinion favourable to Temperance, which has made the people 
of the town willing to submit to the restrictive policy of the 
Company. If any one imagines that the great reduction in 
consumption in the early years of the Gothenburg or Bergen 
Company was mainly due to the direct action of Temperance 
societies (as apart from the influence of the controlling com- 
panies), an examination of the numbers of the Temperance 
societies in the years in question would dispose of the idea. 



APPENDICES 



733 



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734 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



OPINIONS OF INFLUENTIAL AND RESPONSIBLE 

CITIZENS OF BERGEN RESPECTING ITS 

CONTROLLING SOCIETY. 

A few years back, the late Mr. T. M. Wilson addressed the 
following inquiries to a number of the most representative 
men in Bergen, including, among others, the Governor of the 
Province, the Mayor of Bergen, Members of Parliament, the 
Chief of the Police, the British, French, German, and Ameri- 
can Consuls, the Bishop and Clergy of the City, etc., etc. : — 

(1) Is it your opinion that the operations of the society 
for controlling the retail sale of ardent spirits in 
Bergen have been of benefit to the city and its 
population, and that they have in any degree con- 
tributed to promote the movement against the 
intemperate use of intoxicating liquors ? 

(2) Is it your opinion that the objects of public utility 
supported out of the surplus profits of the society 
for controlling the retail sale of ardent spirits in 
Bergen act in any considerable degree in elevating 
and raising the culture of the masses ? 

Mr. Wilson received in reply a remarkable series of 
letters, a few of which are subjoined. 

From the Chief of Police . — 
" In reply to the above questions, I have to state that the 
police officials are, from their official experience, enabled to 
bear testimony in the very strongest terms to the efficiency 
of the control exercised by the society, and to its great value, 
directly and indirectly, in promoting sobriety and improving 
the drinking habits of the people. A large part of the 
drunkenness now existing is due to the uncontrolled sale of 
wines and beer, and until those are controlled in the same 
manner as spirits, it cannot be expected that drunkenness 
will be entirely eradicated in Bergen. The subject of the 
second question admits of no two opinions." 



APPENDICES 735 

i^'orn the Bishop of Bergen :— 

Question 1. '' Yes, I consider it to be perfectly certain. 
Complaints have certainly been heard of late of increasing 
abuse of strong drink by the youth of the town, but it is 
always added that it is due to the consumption of Bavarian 
beer. The society has, so far as I am aware, no connection 
therewith." 

Question 2. " Yes, that I am perfectly convinced of." 
From the Public Prosecutor of Bergen : — 

Question 1. '' Yes. As special means for restricting the 
drink evil may be named : (1) that no sales are made on 
credit ; (2) that spirits are not sold at the bars to minors, or 
to intoxicated persons, and that there is no opportunity of 
sitting down to enjoy spirituous drinks, the customer being 
compelled to consume his liquor and go ; and (3) that the 
Bergen society has also carried out a system of limiting the 
hours of sale, especially in the winter, and on the evenings 
before holy festivals, which goes much farther than the 
requirements of the law. Nothing of that is imaginable if 
the spirit trade were free." 

Question 2. '^ Unconditionally in the affirmative." 
Prom the British Consul : — 

Question 1. " Although I have made no special study of 
the drink question, it seems to me self-evident that the town 
and its population has benefited considerably by the opera- 
tions of the society for the retailing of ardent spirits, and 
that the society has contributed in no small degree towards 
the prevention of excessive drinking." 

Question 2. '^ The advantages to the people from the sup- 
port given to various institutions out of the society's profits 
are apparent and unquestionable." 
Prom the German Consul : — 

Question 1. '' Unconditionally yes." 

Question 2. " Yes ; but I think that total abstinence is 
directly assisted on too small a scale out of the society's 
profits." 

Prom the American Consul : — 

Question 1. '^Perfectly certainly, yes. It is also certain 



736 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

that the strict control exercised by the society, and the per- 
fect order it maintains, have contributed in an especial 
degree to limit the drink evil." 

Question 2. '' Can only be answered affirmatively." 
Finally, the opinion of Mr. Wilson, formed after more than 
thirty years' residence in Bergen, may be quoted as the 
deliberate pronouncement of a competent observer who at 
first — owing to fears which he tells us were subsequently 
dispelled by close observation of the society's operations— 
was opposed to the introduction of the company system. 
Summing up, nearly twenty years later, the result of his 
investigations, he says : " In an English work before us the 
author says, speaking of Bergen, '■ we did not see a single 
drunken person, a single beggar, or any one in rags.' He had 
not such an intimate experience of Bergen as we have, or he 
would have qualified hig statement a little ; but still there is 
a world of truth in what he has said in the words quoted. 
There is, really, not a tithe of the wretchedness, squalid 
misery and poverty, drunkenness and beggary, so prevalent 
in English towns of similar size : that the difference is due, 
to no small extent, to the fact that in Bergen the sale of 
ardent spirits is strictly controlled, while in the English 
towns it is not, is indubitable ; and it is a fact that quickly 
impresses itself on the minds of those who know the peoples 
and circumstances of both countries intimately." 



NOTE. 

Foreign Moneys. English Equivalents. 

Krone (Norwegian) . ) Is. l^cl. 

Krona (Swedish) . . j 18 are equal to one English sovereign. 

Ore 90 Ore are equal to one English shilling. 

(The Krone is divided into 100 Ore.) 
Foreign Measures. English Equivalents. 

Hectolitre ..... 22*0 Imperial Gallons. 

Litre 0-22 of Imperial Gallon. 

Old English Gallon. . 0-833 of Imperial Gallon. 

(In the American Eeports of Dr. Gould and Mr. Koren, the 
Quart used is a fourth part of the old English Gallon.) 



Norwegian Towns which have Voted upon the Retention oj 


Suppression of Samlags in 1895, 1896, 1897, 1898, and 1899. 




Number 


Number 


Number 


Number of Towns in 




of possible 
Votes.l 


of Votes 

for 
Samlag. 


of Votes 
against 
Samlag. 


which San 
Retained. 


ilag has been 
Suppres.»ed.2 


1895— Bodo (retained) . . 


1,814 


1,217 


597 






Vadso „ ... 


649 


534 


115 






Gjovik (suppressed) 


800 


328 


472 






Aasgaardstrand ,, 


210 


69 


141 






Tonsberg „ 


3,654 


1,685 


1,969 






Brevik „ 


1,088 


522 


566 






Slden 


4,249 


1 ,696 


2,553 






Eisor ,, 


1,616 


549 


1,067 






Arendal „ 


2,073 


787 


1,286 






Grimstad ,, 


1,476 


602 


874 






Aalesund ,, 


4,359 


1,137 


3,222 






Molde 


838 


322 


516 






Namsos ,, 


965 


234 


731 


2 




Vote taken in 13 towns 


23,791 


9,682 


14,109 


11 


1896— Drobak (retained) . 


1,094 


757 


337 




Kongsvinger „ 


606 


539 


67 






Bergen „ 


28,762 


14,590 


14,172 






Mosjoen „ 


619 


317 


302 






Lillesand (suppressed) 


720 


250 


470 






Farsund „ 


857 


377 


480 






Sogndal ,, 


213 


98 


115 






Stavanger „ 


11,756 


4,234 


7,522 






Levanger ,, 


570 


275 


295 


4 




Vote taken in 9 towns 


45.197 


21,437 


23,760 


5 


1897— Fredrikshald (retained) 


5,482 


3,165 


2,317 




Hamar , , 


2,115 


1,516 


599 






Kongsberg „ 


2,456 


1,635 


821 






Drammen ,, 


9,457 


6,493 


2,964 






Holmestrand ,, 


1,088 


726 


362 






Horten „ 


3,583 


1,916 


1,667 






Larvik ,, 


4,857 


2,487 


2,370 






Tromso „ 


2,842 


1,852 


990 






Sarpsborg (suppressed) 


2,052 


938 


1,114 






Porsgrund ,, 


2,138 


943 


1,195 






Kristiansiind ,, 


5,914 


2,595 


3,319 


8 




Vote taken in 11 towns 


41,984 


24,266 


17,718 


3 


1898— Moss (retained) 


3,582 


1,997 


1,585 




Lillehammer „ 


1,272 


774 


498 






Honefoss , , 


806 


464 


342 






Svelviken ,, 


609 


387 


222 






Kristiansand „ 


6,396 


3,325 


3,071 






Egersund ,, 


1,476 


829 


647 






Trondhjem „ 


16,829 


12,812 


4,017 






Hammerfest „ 


977 


677 


300 






Fredrikstad (suppressed) 


6,153 


2,677 


3,476 






Sandefjord „ 


2,265 


938 


1,327 






Kragero „ 


2,578 


662 


1,916 






Flekkefjord 


1,040 


313 


727 


8 




Vote taken in 12 towns 


43,983 


25,855 


18,128 


4 


1899— Christiania (retained) 


102,617 


84,009 


18,608 






Langesund „ 


641 


343 


298 






Tvedestrand „ 


772 


407 


365 






Stenkjser (suppressed) 


1,090 


497 


593 






Vardo ,, 


1,123 


488 


635 






Mandal ,, 


1,884 


930 


954 


3 




Vote taken in 6 towns 


108,127 


86,674 


21,453 


3 




263,082 


167,914 


95,168 


25 


26 



1 As a majority of tlioso entitled to vote was necessai-y for the suppression of a Samlag, those who ab 
stained from voting were counted as having voted for its coutinuance, 2 luvolviug prohibition. 



738 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



RELATION OF OVERCEOWDING TO INTEMPER- 
ANCE. 

That there is a close connection between overcrowding on 
the one hand, and intemperance on the other, cannot well be 
doubted. The Lords' Committee on Intemperance, in dis- 
cussing the matter in 1879, said : '' It is in towns that the 
causes to which the increase of intemperance is attributed 
operate most powerfully. The rate of wages is far higher 
than in rural districts, and from the year 1869 to 1873 rose 
very rapidly. The overcrowded dwellings, and bad sanitary 
arrangements, and the nature of the trade or manufacture in 
which the inhabitants are employed, also tend to increase the 
habits of intemperance. Liverpool, for example, shows the 
greatest number of apprehensions to population, viz., 1 to 
every 24 inhabitants ; its death-rate is higher, and, with the 
exception of Hartlepool, its population is denser (92 persons 
per acre) than in any other town in England." 

Professor Leone Levi, referring to the same matter, said : 
'' I would call your lordships' attention to this further fact, 
that out of 204,000 committed {i.e. for drunkenness), upwards 
of 150,000, or 75 per cent., were in only seven counties, 
namely, in Lancashire, Middlesex, Durham, York, Stafford, 
Northumberland, and Cheshire. . . . Drunkenness seems 
to prevail in the densely-crowded places, and in the most 
densely-populated counties." ^ 

^ Very similar conclusions are stated in a paper drawn up hj 
Mr. John Dendy and Mr. J. H. Poynting for the use of the Lords' 
Committee, and published as an Appendix to Vol. IV. of the 
evidence. The conclusions are as follow : — 

" (1) There appears to be a direct relation between the rate 
of increase of population and the rate of drunkenness, so that on 
the whole, where the population is increasing most rapidly, there 
is the greatest drunkenness, this being at least marked in the 
great northern towns. 

" (2) On the whole, in the towns where the drunkenness is 
greatest, the population is most dense." 



APPENDICES 739 

These statements were made as far back as 1878-79, but 
that they still apply can easily be shown. Thus, of the six 
counties most remarkable for drunkenness in recent years, no 
less than four (viz., Northumberland, Durham, Pembroke- 
shire, and Cumberland) are also to be found in the six 
counties most remarkable for overcrowding, while the remain- 
ing two (viz., Lancashire and Glamorganshire) are also 
counties which contain a considerable proportion of densely- 
crowded districts. 

The most remarkable illustrations of the coincidence 
between drunkenness and overcrowding are furnished by 
Northumberland and Durham. These counties are not only 
the most notorious for drunkenness, but contain by far the 
largest proportion of overcrowded persons. The following are 
the figures : — 

Percentage of Popu- No. of Arrests for 

lation living moi-e Drunkenness per 

than two persons to 1,000 inhabitants 

a room in 1891 . in 1889-93 . 

Northumberland 38-69 .... 1714 

Durham 34-03 .... 13-37 

That the coincidence is more accidental than the above figures 
suggest is not only possible, but extremely probable, but at 
least it is too remarkable to be ignored. That excessive 
drinking is far from being exclusively related to unhealthy 
surroundings no one with knowledge will question ; but 
that a considerable proportion of it is so related is hardly 
open to doubt. In their Report on the Housing of the 
Working Classes, the Royal Commissioners discuss the 
question at some length. A few extracts from their report 
may be quoted : " Before leaving the effects upon the people 
of the evil conditions in which they live, and before entering 
upon the causes which have produced those evils, it will be 
well to consider in which of the two categories certain facts 
should be placed. The question, to quote the title of a 
pamphlet mentioned in evidence, is, ' Is it the pig that makes 
the sty, or the sty that makes the pig ? ' That is to say, 
are the dirty and drinking habits of a portion of the very 



740 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

poor who live in overcrowded dwellings the cause or the 
consequence of the miserable circumstances in which they 
are found ? It will be seen that the temperance question is 
involved in this examination, and the strictest caution is 
necessary not to let regret and disapproval of the ravages of 
intemperance divert attention from other evils which make 
the homes of the working classes wretched, evils over which 
they have never had any control. ... To return, how- 
ever, to the question whether drink and evil habits are the 
cause or consequence of the condition in which the poor live, 
the answer is probably the unsatisfactorj^ one that drink and 
poverty act and re-act upon one another. Discomfort of the 
most abject kind is caused by drink, but indulgence in drink 
is caused by overcrowding and its cognate evils, and the poor 
who live under the conditions described have the greatest 
difficulty in leading decent lives and of maintaining decent 
habitations." 



APPENDICES 



741 



GILCHRIST LECTURES. 

The following table gives particulars of the attendances at 
the lectures delivered under the auspices of the Gilchrist 
Educational Trust in 1898:— 



SUMMARY OF ATTENDANCE AT LECTURES, 1898. 



Spring. 

Group I. 

Hyde 

Glossop 

Crewe 

Llangollen . . . 
Stafford 

Group H. 

Whitchurch (Salop) 

Oldham 

Hindley .... 

Colne 

Blackpool .... 



Autumn. 

Group HI. 

Mossley 

Goole 

Accrington . . . . 

Elland 

Malton 

Group IV. 

Abingdon 

Exeter 

Tiverton 

Dudley 

Tewkesbury . . , . 



Average attend- 
ance at each 
Lecture. 



892 
940 
913 
606 
1,023 



567 
692 
641 
812 
2,200 



662 
1,012 
1,082 

877 
383 



842 

1,325 

1,170 

719 

611 



Total attendance 

at the Course of 

four Lectures. 



3,571 
3,760 
3,652 
2,425 
4,094 



2,269 
2,770 
2,564 
3,250 
8,803 



2,650 
4,050 
4,328 
3,511 
1,535 



3,370 
5,300 
4,680 
2,876 
2,445 



742 



THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 



The syllabus of the lectures was as follows : — 



Group I.- 



Lecturers. 

Prof. Sir Robert Ball. 
Rev. Dr. Dallinger. 

Ditto. 



Professor H. G. Seeley. 
Dr. R. D. Roberts. 



Subjects. 

'^ A Universe in Motion." 
" Spiders — their Work 

and their Wisdom." 
" A Naturalist's Study of 

the question— May our 

Neighbouring Worlds 

be Habitable?" 
" Volcanoes." 
'' The Distribution of 

Animal Life on the 

Earth's Surface and its 

Significance." 



Group II. ( 



Group in. 



Dr. Andrew Wilson. 



Dr. A. P. Laurie. 

Ditto. 
Dr. R. D. Roberts. 



Rev. Dr. Dallinger. 
Ditto. 



Trof. V. B. Lewes. 

Rev. Dr. Dallinger. 

Ditto. 
Dr. Andrew Wilson. 

Dr. R. D. Roberts. 



and 



the 
Geo- 



'' Lungs and Air 
Lesson in Public 
Personal Health." 

"Dust." 

'•'■ Invisible Rays." 

"The Building of 
British Isles : 
logical Sketch." 

" Spiders — their Work 
and their Wisdom." 

"The Pond and its 
Minute Inhabitants : a 
Modern Study of 
Minute Life." 

" Our Atmosphere and 
its Relation to Life." 

" Spiders — their Work 
and their Wisdom." 

"New Spider Studies." 

" The Heart and the Story 
of the Circulation." 

"The Evolution of the 
British Isles : a Geo- 
logical Sketch." 



APPENDICES 



743 



Group IV. 



Prof. Sir Robert Ball. 
Prof. C. Waldstein. 

Rev. Dr. Dallinger. 



Dr, 



Ditto 
Andrew Wilson. 



" A Universe in Motion." 
''The Spirit of Greek 

Art." 
'' Spiders — their Work 

and their Wisdom." 
''New Spider Studies." 
"Brain and Nerve and 

their Work." 



PROFITS OF THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC. 

The present writers have based their calculations of 
the sum that would be available for recreative agencies upon 
the assumption that the trade, as carried on by a Munici- 
pality or Company^ would yield, at a low computation, a net 
profit of 20 per cent, upon the sales. This figure was 
adopted by Mr. Chamberlain in 1876 in his proposals for the 
municipalisation of the traffic in Birmingham.^ It is probable 
that in the past 20 years the rate of profit upon public-house 
sales has considerably increased, and the evidence that is 
forthcoming from various quarters points to a higher rate 
than 20 per cent, at the present time. 

In the Minutes of Evidence of the Royal Commission of 
the Liquor Licensing Laws (Volume VIII.) an account is 
given of the experiment now being carried on by the Bir- 
mingham Corporation in connection with their waterworks 
in Wales. The Corporation having to supply accommodation 
for 1,000 workpeople in the Elan Valley, decided to meet the 
demand for drink by establishing a canteen, the keeper of 
which should have no interest in the sale of drink. Mr. E. 
A. Lees, the business manager of the Elan Works, was 
questioned by Mr. Charles Walker, Chairman of the Licensed 
Victuallers' Central Proctection Society of London, upon the 

^ " The total sale in Birmingham, with a population of 
360,000, would, at this rate, amount to £900,000, on which the 
average profit is estimated, on good authoritj^, to be 20 per cent." 
{The Right Method ivith the .PubUca7is, p. 28). 



744 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

profits made in the canteen. Mr. Walker inquired (71243), 
''You teli us you make very considerable profit, acd you 
charge M. a quart? " And further (71247), "The purpose 
of my asking you the question is this : You charge bd. a 
quart. If you pay 24s., which I should imagine is about the 
price, that is 2d. per quart : so that you see there is a profit 
of 150 per cent." To which Mr. Lees replied, " Probably that 
would be the cost at the brewery ; but the carriage is very 
high." One may add a halfpenny per quart for carriage, 
and there is still a gross profit left of 100 per cent. Mr. 
Lees had previously stated (71178) that the prices in the 
canteen were fixed by the market price in the neighbour- 
hood. These enormous profits are unquestionably in excess 
of those ordinarily made by the Trade. But the reason is 
brought out with clearness in the examination before the 
same Commission of the Bishop of Chester by Mr. Edward 
North Buxton, a partner in one of the largest London 
breweries. Mr. Buxton, to illustrate the question he was 
putting, took the case of a publican, '' a fair average case," 
who bought a public-house for £10,000, putting in £2,000, 
and leaving the remaining £8,000 on a 5 per cent, mortgage. 
A large portion of this £10,000 — the evidence does not say 
how much — would represent the value of the licence. Mr. 
Buxton, after saying that the publican in question made a 
profit of £300 a year and paid £400 on his mortgage, asked 
the Bishop this very pertinent question : (69249) "Is it not 
fair to say that if you take over the trade of that man, 
unburdened as he was, by the large amount of capital, to the 
extent of the interest on that capital, you will pay a much 
larger dividend ; you will make a much larger profit ? " ; and 
added (69250) : " My point is that as you have an invest- 
ment of a far smaller amount of capital for about the same 
trade, and have the advantage of trading on a large scale, 
you luill make an enormous profit.''^ 

Manifestly there can be only one answer to Mr. Buxton's 
suggestion that " you will make an enormous profit." It is 
obvious that a municipality taking over the traffic at the 
expiration of a " time notice " would be very differently 



APPENDICES 745 

situated from tlie private trader entering into tlie business at 
tlie present time, and having to pay the exceedingly high 
rents now charged for licensed houses. 

In Vol. VI. of the Minutes of Evidence (Scotland) of the 
same Commission is to be found the account of an experiment 
carried on by the Pife Coal Company in Hill of Beath, a 
village with a population of 1,100 or 1,200, situated near 
Dumfermline. Mr. Charles Carlow, J. P., Managing Director 
of the Company, gave evidence that the Company opened a 
public-house in the village to prevent a licence being given 
to a private trader. The man who has been put into the 
house to carry on the trade for the Company has no interest 
in pushing sales. ]\ir. Carlow stated (49872) that they 
sold at usual public-house prices. Questioned by Mr. 
Younger (49756): ''You say that their returns are 45 per 
cent, upon their receipts ? " Mr. Carlow replied : " That is 
the gross profit — 44|- per cent, calculated upon the sales. 
The net profit calculated upon the sales is 28| per cent." 
In response to a question from the Chairman (Viscount Peel) 
as to whether he considered that the experiment threw any 
light upon the profits of the trade, Mr. Carlow said (49637) : 
"I think our experiment shows that the profits are very 
high indeed, and that there is no wonder that small licensed 
houses are sold at such large prices as we hear of. In the 
neighbouring village of Cowdenbeath, where a great many 
of our miners also reside, a house was sold, I am told, very 
recently, for £7,000, the structural value of which could not 
be over £1,200." 

49638 (Chairman) : " Por how many successive years had 
a licence been obtained for that house?" (Answer): "I 
think about six, if I remember aright. In another village, 
where a large number of our miners are, a licence was held 
for three years. An old miner built a house at a cost of 
£350, and sold it for £3,500. It cost £250, and he spent 
about £100 on it." 

49639 (Chairman) : " How soon after getting the licence 
did he sell it?" (Answer): "Three j^ears. Then there is 



746 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

another instance still, in East Fife, quite close to 174 of onr 
workmen's houses. The licence was got a year and a half 
ago. The value of the house was about £1,000, and the 
owner sold it for £3,000." 

Further, in the Licensed Victuallers^ Gazette of May 
13th, 1898, a report was given of a Compensation for Dis- 
turbance case tried before the London Sheriffs' Court. The 
plaintiff, in the course of his evidence, stated that ''his 
profit on cheap wines was 200 and 300 per cent. Brandy he 
bought at 8s. in bond, and after ' breaking it down ' he 
retailed it at 31s. On whisky and gin the profit was 100 
and 50 per cent, respectively. On pale ales there was a profit 
of 150 per cent., and on ordinary beer 33 per cent. Where 
the beer was sold in glasses the profit was much greater." 

The Daily News of May 10th, 1898, in its report of the 
same case, stated that " Mr. Marks, a public-house broker, 
said that it was the custom, in dealing with licensed pre- 
mises, to write down a profit of 56 per cent, on the gross 
takings." 

After making all necessary deductions from the represen- 
tations of a tradesman claiming compensation for disturb- 
ance, it is impossible to avoid the conviction that the profits 
made were upon a very high scale. Evidence of a similar 
character is afforded by a case reported in the Weekly 
Budget of November 12th, 1898 : "At Blackpool on Thursday, 
an inquiry was held before Mr. Mellor, barrister, and a 
special jury of gentlemen from all parts of Lancashire and 
Yorkshire, to determine the compensation to be paid Fred 
Settle, his house and confectioner's shop (licensed premises) 
being required for the new Town Hall. The claimant said 
his profits were £15 a week in summer and £5 in winter. 
He gave lOd. per dozen for beer, and sold 600 bottles a day 
at 2s. a dozen. Draught beer cost 36s. a barrel, and at 2d. 
a glass 'he received £6 for a barrel. On pint bottles he only 
got Is. a dozen. For Bass's he gave Is. 4cZ., and sold at 3s. 
outside ; and for Guinness's he gave Is. 3|cZ., and sold at 3s. 
On draught beer the profits were nearly 200 per cent." 



APPENDICES 747 

In Norway, in 1896, the percentage of net profits upon the 
gross receipts of the Samlags was at the rate of 35 per cent. ; 
or, if the sums paid by the Samlags for the right to sell be 
added to the profits, they work out at the rate of 52 per 
cent. 

Dr. Gould, in his Popular Control of the Liquor Traffic^ 
published in 1894, gives the annual gross receipts of the 
Stockholm Company at £128,739, and the net profits at 
£82,699, which is at the rate of 64 per cent, upon the tak- 
ings. The profits of the Grothenburg Company, as given by 
him, are at the rate of about 42 per cent. The profits in 
both cases would be much higher if the large sums paid to 
the municipalities for licence rights were added. 

HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS. 

It will be noticed that hitherto, no reference has been made 
to one important and difficult problem which has to be faced 
in any scheme of licensing reform, viz. : — the licences to be 
issued to hotels, restaurants, etc. This question it may be 
well here to consider. 

In the Liquor Traffic (Local Control) Bill, introduced by 
Sir W. Harcourt, in February, 1893,^ there were the following 
provisions : — 

(1) '' Nothing in this Act shall prevent the grant or 
renewal of licences for the sale of intoxicating liquors in 
premises intended to be used in good faith, exclusively for all, 
or any, of the following purposes ; that is to say, 

(a) Eor refreshment rooms at a railway station ; that 
is to say, for persons arriving or departing by railway ; 
or 

(b) For an inn or hotel ; that is to say, for the accom- 
modation of travellers, or of persons lodging therein ; or 

(c) For an eating house; that is to say, for persons 
taking meals on the premises. 

* The same general proposals, with one or two additions, were 
included in the 1895 Bill. See Intoxicating Liquor Traffic 
(Local Control) Bill, 1895, clause 6. 



748 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

(2) There shall be attached to every such licence, such 
conditions as the licensing authority think necessary, or 
proper, for preventing the use of the premises for any other 
purpose than that specified on the licence." 

The foregoing provisions would probably meet the require- 
ments of the case if the licences were granted upon terms 
which secured the due observance of the conditions without 
recourse, on the part of the licensing authority, to legal pro- 
ceedings. It has been pointed out, as one of the advantages 
of the Company system, that bye-laws for the conduct of the 
trade can be enforced in the Company houses with prompt- 
ness and ease without any recourse to the laborious, uncertain, 
and costly methods of the law. To secure the same end in 
connection with hotels, restaurants, and railway refreshment 
rooms where liquor was sold for private profit, under the 
conditions of licence already referred to, it would probably be 
sufficient to provide, as a condition of the yearly licence, 
that inspectors appointed by the licensing authority should 
be free, at all times, to inspect such licensed premises. The 
licences would, of course, be subject to renewal or refusal at 
the discretion of the licensing authority at the end of each 
year. 

CLUBS. 

It has been well said that '' no licensing reform, however 
complete the restraint it places on public-houses, will accom- 
plish much unless at the same time it deals with the club 
evil. There is to-day, in every large town, a considerable 
and rapidly increasing number of drinking dens, subject to 
no control, paying no fees, requiring no licences, and allowed 
to keep open all day and every day, Sunday and week-day 
alike." 

From the Return of Clubs presented to the Royal Commis- 
sion on Liquor Licensing Laws it appears that the number 
and distribution of clubs in the United Kingdom in which 
intoxicating liquors are sold are as follows : — 



APPENDICES 



749 





Number of Clubs. 


Total. 


Open on 
Sundays. 


Total 
number of 
Members. 


Name of District. 


Members.' 


Proprie- 
tary. 


London, Metro- 
politan and Cit}^ 
Police District 

England : 

Counties and 
Boroughs . . 

Scotland : 

Counties and 
Boroughs . . 

Ireland .... 

Wales : 

Counties and 
Boroughs . . 


573 

2,685 

150 
167 

102 


87 

188 

7 
11 

20 


660 

2,873 

157 

178 

122 


346 

1,348 

64 
161 

98 


246,523 

595,450 

39,240 
26,357 

39,165 


Total . . 


3,677 


313 


3,990 


2,017 


946,735 



The increase in the number of clubs from 1887-1896 is 
shown in the table below : 



Name of 
District. 


1887. 


1888. 


1889. 


1890. 


1891. 


1892. 


1893. 


1894. 


1895. 


1896. 


London, 
Metropoli- 
tan and 
City Police 
District . 


298 


327 


361 


411 


446 


474 


499 


534 


584 


660 


England : 
Counties & 
Boroughs . 


1,646 


1,745 


1,847 


1,955 


2,071 


2,200 


2,326 


2,499 


2,661 


2,873 


Scotland : 
Counties & 
Boroughs . 


82 


88 


92 


96 


104 


110 


122 


126 


137 


157 


Ireland . . 


96 


100 


104 


111 


116 


129 


148 


154 


161 


178 


Wales: 

Counties & 
Boroughs . 


38 


43 


44 


44 


51 


57 


65 


80 


97 


122 


Total . . 


2,160 


2,303 


2,448 


2,617 


2,788 


2.970 


3,160 


3,393 


3,640 


3,990 



750 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

Referring to this table, the Secretary of the Royal Com- 
mission observes : — " As the figures deal only with clubs now 
in existence, the apparent increase is somewhat greater than 
the real." 

Evidence has been given before the Royal Commission of 
the growth of Brewers' Clubs. By means of these, the 
licensing authorities are not unfrequently set at defiance, 
as in a case mentioned in the House of Commons in 1895. 
'' The licence of a certain village public-house had been taken 
away because of the misconduct of the publican, and because 
the place was not required. Thereupon the brewer who 
owned the building opened it as a club, making the former 
publican manager. The rules were carefully drawn up, with 
the aid of counsel, to keep the house open to as many as 
possible ; an entrance fee of a few pence was fixed ; and 
the club was in a position to accommodate almost all its old 
customers. It had not to observe any of the regulations 
imposed on the regular drink shops, and consequently did 
twice as much business as before its licence was taken 
away." 

It does not fall within the scope of the present volume to 
consider in detail the provisions that should be made for the 
right conduct of clubs. The question has received large 
attention from the Royal Commission, and definite sugges- 
tions may be found in its Report. But apart from the 
detailed proposals which that Commission has made, there 
is a growing and widespread conviction that any scheme of 
reform must include the licensing of all clubs in which liquor 
is sold. 

It is probable that the abuse of drinking clubs would be 
brought into narrow limits if it were provided : — 

(a) That all clubs in which liquor was sold should be 
annually licensed. 

(b) That the licensing authority should be empowered to 
attach to each licence such conditions as it deemed necessary. 



APPENDICES 751 

(c) That all licensed clubs should be open to the inspectors 
of the licensing authority. ^ 

(d) That the licensing authority should have power sum- 
marily to cancel the licence of any club, if, in the opinion of 
the licensing authority, the provisions of the licence had 
been seriously violated. 

Provisions of this kind, whilst giving little annoyance to 
hond-fide clubs, would, it is believed, be effective in their 
control over mere drinking clubs. 

APPEOPRIATION OF THE PROFITS OF THE 
SPIRIT TRAFFIC IN SWEDEN. 

The ordinary method of appropriating the Bolag profits 
(including the sums paid to the Municipalities for licences) 
is as follows : — Seven- tenths to the Municipality, one- tenth 
to the Agricultural Society of the district, and two-tenths 
to the public treasury for subsequent distribution among the 
county revenue districts. 

The full details of the appropriation are set forth in Sec. 
22 of the Act of May 24th, 1895. 

*' Sec. 22. (a) The fees to be paid for the licence to sell brandy 
retail or over the bar, and also the net profits of the business 

^ Captain the Hon. G. Anson, the Chief Constable of Stafford- 
shire, when giving evidence before the Royal Licensing Com- 
mission, was asked whether there would be any very strong 
opposition to the power of entry from social and political clubs 
of high standing, and from the far larger number of working 
men's clubs, which are conducted in a perfectly regular and 
proper manner, and how often the police would enter a well- 
conducted club? He replied : — " I should think a visit once or 
twice a year would be ample. They could easily find out 
whether anything irregular was going on in a club with a 
number of members, and they would not enter unless there was 
some reason for doing it as a rule." It is to be remembered that 
all the large factories of the kingdom are now under inspection, 
and those which are well conducted experience no annoyance 
from the occasional visit of the inspector. 



752 THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM 

whicli tlie companies, according to section 18, must pay over, 
shall be distributed in the following manner : 

I. In Stockholm eight-tenths shall go to the city, if the trade 
in brandy be in the hands of a company ; in any other case the 
city shall receive seven-tenths ; the remainder shall be deposited 
in the public treasury. 

II. In any other town which does not take part in a land- 
sting : 

First, if the sale of brandy is in charge of a company, seven- 
tenths shall go to the municipality, one-tenth to the agricul- 
tural society of the district, and two-tenths shall be deposited 
in the public treasury. 

Second, if the sale of brandy in a town is not in the hands of 
a company, six-tenths shall go to the municipality, one-tenth 
to the agricultural society of the district, and three-tenths shall 
be deposited in the public treasury. 

III. In a town that takes part in the landsting : 

First, when the sale of brandy in the town is in the hands of 
a company, five-tenths shall go to the town, two-tenths to the 
landsting of the district, one-tenth to the agricultural society 
of the district, and two-tenths shall be deposited in the public 
treasury. 

Second, when the sale of brandy in the town is not in the 
hands of a company, four-tenths shall go to the town, two-tenths 
to the landsting of the district, one-tenth to the agricultural 
society of the district, and three-tenths shall be deposited in 
the public treasury. 

IV. In the country parishes the whole sum shall be deposited 
at the office of the receiver of the district, who shall distribute 
it as follows : Seven-tenths to all the country parishes of the 
district, according to the population, two-tenths to the landsting 
of the district, and one-tenth to the agricultural society of the 
district. 

V. In a borough where, in conformity with section 11 (6), the 
sale of brandy retail and over the bar has been given in charge 
of a company, the taxes and profits shall be divided in the same 
way as in a city where the trade in brandy is given in charge 
of a company. 

(6) The portion of the moneys mentioned above that go to 
the landsting and agricultural societies shall be deposited at 
the office of the receiver of the district. The portion deposited 
in the public treasury shall be distributed among the county 



APPENDICES 753 

revenue districts according to tlae number of inhabitants, care 
being taken that tlie number of inhabitants of each county- 
revenue district, within the limits of which a town is situated, 
be reduced by the number of inhabitants living in such town. 
Of the amount which goes to each county revenue district, 
according to this division, the landsting and agricultural 
society shall receive each one-fourth, and the county parishes 
one-half. The distribution among the latter is also to be made 
according to the number of inhabitants." 



48 



Index 



Aarrestad, Mk. Sven, quoted, 

502-3. 
Aberdeen, number of licensed 

premises in, 79. 
Absolute Alcohol, consumption 
of, in tlie United Kingdom, 
6, 613 ; limits of harmless 
consumption of, 7 (footnote) ; 
consumption of, in chief 
European countries, 613 ; in 
British Colonies, 614 ; in 
United States, 70, 613. 
Alabama, local option in, 278; 

Dispensary system in, 432. 
Alaska, prohibition in, 121, 303 ; 

high licence adopted, 303. 
Albany, drunkenness in, 379. 
Alcohol, number of actual con- 
sumers of, in United King- 
dom, 5 ; consumption of, in 
the United Kingdom, 1840 
to 1899, 3-6, 607-609, 613; 
intemperate consumption of, 
6, 12, 56, 619 ; loss resulting 
from use of, 61 ; consump- 
tion of, in United States, 70, 
74, 607-9, 613; in Sweden, 
73, 74, 442, 607-9, 613, 723 ; 
in Norway, 73, 74, 607-9, 
613, 724, 725 ; in Denmark, 
73, 74, 607-9, 613 ; in chief 
European countries, 74, 
607-9, 613 ; in British Colo- 
nies, 76, 610-12, 614; effect 
of reducing consumption of, 
in United Kingdom, to level 



of United States, 61 ; effect 
of climate upon consumption 
of, 72 ; physiological effect 
of, 7 (footnote) ; see also under 
Expenditure, Absolute, etc. 
Alden, Percy, 578. 
Alison, quoted, 45 (footnote). 
Allsopp & Co., Ltd., number of 

shareholders in, 90. 
America, see under United State?, 
Amesbury, " no licence " in, 313. 
Andrews, Hon. A. D., quoted, 238. 
Anstie, Dr., quoted, 7 (footnote). 
Appeals to Quarter Sessions, 

see Quarter Sessions. 
Appleton, Gen. James, 125. 
Arizona, liquor laws in, 302. 
Arkansas, population of, 255 ; 

local option in, 255. 
Art Exhibitions in London and 

Provinces, 577-578. 
Asquith, Et. Hon. H. H., quoted, 

94. 
Athens (Georgia), Dispensary 
system inaugurated in, 262, 
413 (footnote). 
Atkinson, Edward, quoted, 46 

(footnote). 
Attleboro', local option in, 312. 
Atwater, Professor, quoted, 34, 

630, 631. 
Auburn, prohibition in, 186-7 ; 
drunkenness in, 702 ; vote 
on prohibition in, 241 (foot- 
note). 
Augusta, Maine, drunkenness 



755 



756 



INDEX 



in, 702 ; non-enforcement of 

proliibitory law in, 199 ; 

number of saloons in, 201 : 

vote on prohibition in, 241 

(footnote). 
Australasia, local option in, 347. 
AusTEALiA, see under separate 

Colonies. 
AusTEALiA, "\Ve5teex, 566 Under 

Western Australia. 
Austria, consum^otion of alcoliol 

in, 74, 607-9, 613. 
AuTHOEiTY, CE^-TEAL, proposed, 

594. 
Baily, Joshua L,. quoted, 231, 

232, 233, 234. 
Bands of Hope, membersliip of, 

in the United Kingdom, 571. 
Baxgoe, Maine, drunkenness in, 

702 ; non - enforcement of 

proliibitory law in, 192 ; 

number of saloons in, 193 : 

vote on prohibition in, 241 

(footnote). 
Barnett, Mrs., quoted, 620. 
Baeee, number of liquor-sellers 

in, 229. 
Bass, Me., quoted, 96 (footnote). 
Bass, Eatcliff & Geettox, Ltd.^ 

number of shareholders in, 

90. 
Bath (Maine), non-enforcement 

of prohibition in, 202 ; 

drunkenness in, 703. 
Bavaeia, consumption of beer 

in, 608. 
Baxtee, Dudley, quoted, 11, 57, 

67, 619. 
Bean, Eev. Leeoy S., quoted, 179. 
Beath, Hill of, liquor traffic 

in. 745. 
Beee, consumption of, in United 

Kingdom, 6, 608 ; in United 

States, 608: in British 



Colonies, 611 ; in Denmark 
608 ; in chief European 
countries, 608 ; in Sweden, 
442, 462 (footnote), 723; in 
Norway,, 724 ; alcoholic 
strength of, 75 (footnote) ; 
in Sweden and Norway, 464, 
725 ; effect of spirit mono- 
poly upon sale of, in Eussia, 
404 ; effect of, upon arrests 
for di^unkenness, 460 ; sale 
of, excluded from control in 
Norway and Sweden, 460, 
464, 466, 502, 503; intem- 
perate consumption of, in 
United Kingdom, 56 ; see 
also under Alcohol. 

Beee Dispexsabies, 418. 

Beee Houses, see imder Licensed 
Premises. 

Beee and Wine Teade National 
Defence League, objects of, 
93. 

Belfast (Ieeland), number of 
licensed premises in, 79, 
673 ; drunkenness in, 679 ; 
female intemperance in, 85, 
679. 

Belfast (Maine), number of 
liquor-sellers in, 208. 

Belgium, consumption of alcohol 
in, 74, 607-9, 613 ; industrial 
development of, 48 ; con- 
sumption of food in, 49. 

Bennington, number of liquor- 
sellers in, 229. 

Beegen, adoption of Gothenburg 
system in, 477 ; number of 
licences in, 477; hours of 
sale in, 478; character of 
drink-shops in, 479 ; estab- 
lishment of waiting-rooms 
for workmen, 480 ; sale of 
spiiuts in, 481, 733; arrests 



INDEX 



757 



for drunkenness in, 483, 
733 ; appropriation of pro- 
fits from liquor traffic in, 
484 ; reality of conti"ol exer- 
cised under Company sys- 
tem in, 485, 734. 

Berkeley, prohibition in, 287. 

Berlin (New Hampshire), num- 
ber of liquor-sellers in, 225. 

Bebner, H. E., quoted, 489 (foot- 
note). 

Berry, E,ev. Wilbur F., quoted, 
133, 159, 212. 

Bessbrook, prohibition in, 364 
(footnote). 

Beverley (Mass.), 316. 

BiDDEFORD, non-enforcement of 
prohibition law in, 194; 
number of saloons in, 198 ; 
vote on prohibition in, 241 
(footnote) ; drunkenness in, 
702. 

Biddeford Record^ quoted, 196, 
198. 

BiLSLAND, Bailie, quoted, 575. 

Birkenhead, growth of popula- 
tion in, 567. 

Birmingham, number of licensed 
premises in, 78 ; overcrowd- 
ing in, 555 ; growth of popu- 
lation in, 567. 

Blake, Capt., quoted, 246. 

Blatchford, Robert, quoted, 547. 

BoLAG, see under Gothenburg. 

BoNSOR, Cosmo, Mr., quoted, 110. 

Booth, Charles, quoted, 22-23, 
37, 55, 549, 552 (footnote), 
638. 

Boston (Mass.), number of 
licensed premises in, 307 ; 
licence fees in, 308 ; revenue 
derived from licences in, 
307 (footnote) ; drunken- 
ness in, 158, 318 (footnote). 



Boston, Mayor op, quoted, 244^ 
305. 

BoTT, Eev. Sidney, quoted, 366. 

Bourne, Stephen, quoted, 61, 62. 

Bradford, overcrowding in, 555 ; 
number of licensed premises 
in, 669 ; growth of popula- 
tion in, 567. 

Brattleboro', number of liquor- 
sellers in, 229. 

Brevik, suppression of Samlag 
in, 492-3. 

Brewer, number of liquor-sellers 
in, 208. 

Breicers' Almanack^ quoted, 88, 
94, 98, 106. 

Brewers, number of, 88-89 ; 
power of, 386, 502 ; see also 
iinder Tied Houses and Po- 
litical Influence of Liquor 
Trade. 

Brewery Companies, number 
and size of, 88-89 ; distribu- 
tion of shares in, 90. 

Bright, John, support of, to 
public control of liquor- 
traffic, 543. 

Bristol, number of licensed pre- 
mises in, 78, 669. 

Britain, Great, food consumed 
in, 49. 

British Association, Committee 
of, quoted, 10, 57. 

British Columbia, 344. 

Brockton, 316. 

Brookline, " no licence " in, 314. 

"Brooks' Act," the, see iinder 
Pennsylvania. 

Bruce, Mr., proposals of, 509 
(footnote), 510. 

Brunswick, number of liquor- 
sellers in, 208. 

Bryce, E.T. Hon. J., quoted, 111, 
707 (footnote). 



/0< 



INDEX 



Buffalo, drunkenness in, 379. 
Burlington, proliibition in, 227 : 

drunkenness in, 705, 
Burnley, growth, of population 

in, 567. 
Burns, Mr. John, M.P., quoted, 

564. 
Buxton, Mr. E. N., quoted, 521, 

744. 

Caine, W. S., quoted, 516 (foot- 
note). 

Calais, number of liquor-sellers 
in, 208. 

California, local option in, 286. 

Cambridge, Mass., prohibition 
in, 318, 319. 

Camden, number of liquor-sellers 
in, 208. 

Canada, consumption of alcohol 
in, 76, 324, 610-12, 614; 
density of ix)pulation in, 
323 ; local option in, 323 ; 
recent vote on iDrohibition 
in, 346 ; intem23erance and 
crime in, 658. 

Canadian Commission, Eoyal, 
quoted, see chapters on Pro- 
hibition and Local Option. 

Cape op Good Hope, consump- 
tion of alcohol in, 76, 610- 
12, 614. 

Capital Invested in Liquor 
Trade, 89-90. 

Cardiff, growth of population 
in, 567. 

Caribou, number of liquor-sellers 
in, 208. 

Carnegie, David, quoted, 436. 

Central London, cost of rents 
in, 40. 

Chadwick, Sir Edwin, quoted, 
63, 64, 584. 

Chamberlain, Et. Hon. Joseph, 



quoted, 105 (footnote), 453, 
527, 543, 588, 743. 

Charleston, number of spirit- 
bars in, 415, 418, 423 ; ar- 
rests for drunkenness in, 
420; see also under South 
Carolina. 

Chattel Mortgages in New 
York, 386. 

Chelsea (Mass.), prohibition in, 
322. 

Chester, Bishop of, proposals of, 
569. 

Chester Quarter Sessions, re- 
port of Committee of, 538. 

Chicago, number of liquor sa- 
loons in, 398 ; licence fees in, 
280, 398; drunkenness in, 
158. 

Children, proportion of, in U. K., 
5 ; amount of food required 
by, 34-35 ; number of under- 
fed, in London, 37-39 ; prac- 
tice as to serving, in Sweden, 
454; in United Kingdom, 
534.' 

Christiania, adoption of Goth- 
enburg system in, 487, 

Christiansand, adojotion of Com- 
pany system in, 475. 

Churchill, Lord Randolph, 
quoted, 59, 81, 557. 

City Governtient in United 
States Compared with 
United Kingdom, 243. 

Claremont, number of liquor- 
sellers in, 225. 

Clark, Sir Andrew, quoted, 63. 

Clergy, as shiareholders in brew- 
ery companies, 91 ; number 
of, in England and Wales, 
97 (footnote). 

Climate, effect of, ujjon con- 
sumption of alcohol, 72. 



INDEX 



759 



Clonmel, number of licensed 
premises in, 79, 670. 

Clothing, importance of, 39. 

Clouston, Dr., quoted, 645. 

Clubs, conditions as to licensing, 
in Canada, 331, 333, 335; 
in New Zealand, 359; in 
New York, 386 ; social and 
recreative, need of, 580 ; pro- 
posals for regulation of, 748 ; 
expenditure upon drink in, 
619 ; number of, in U. K., 
749. 

Clutha, local option in, 361-3. 

CoBDEN, EiCHARD, quotcd, 60. 

Coffee, consumption of, in Nor- 
way, 728. 

Colchester, number of liquor- 
sellers in, 229. 

Coleridge, Lord Chief Justice, 
quoted, 653. 

Colonies, British, consumption 
of alcohol in, 75, 610, 614; 
local option in, 323, 347. 

Colorado, local option in, 288. 

Colorado Springs, jprohibition 
in, 289. 

Columbia (South Carolina), 
number of sjjirit bars in, 
418 ; arrests for drunken- 
ness in, 420. 

Columbia, District of, 297. 

Combe & Co., Ltd., number of 
shareholders in, 90. 

'' Committee of Fifty," quoted, 
see chapters III., V., and VII. 

Compensation, arrangements as 
to, in Victoria, 351 ; in 
South Australia, 353, 354 
(footnote) ; in New Zealand, 
361 ; in Russia, 403 ; in 
South Carolina, 418 ; in 
Norway, 478 ; proposals for, 
in United Kingdom, 510. 



Competition, see under Indus- 
trial. 

Concord, prohibition in, 221 ; ar- 
rests for drunkenness in, 705. 

Connecticut, prohibition in, 121 ; 
proportion of urban popula- 
tion in, 123, 257, 698 ; density 
of population in, 696 ; local 
option in, 257. 

Conscripts Eejected in Sweden, 
437. 

Conservatives and the Liquor 
Traffic, 98. 

Constitutional Amendment, de- 
finition of, 128 (footnote) ; 
vote on, in Maine, 128, 238 ; 
vote on, in Rhode Island, 
271 ; vote on, in Massachu- 
setts, 318, 306 (footnote); 
in other States, 715. 

Consuls, British, quoted, 213, 
323 (footnote), 400, 403, 411 
(footnote). 

Cork, number of licensed pre- 
mises in, 79, 674. 

Counter-Attractions to the 
Public-House, provision of, 
in Russia. 404 ; establish- 
ment of, in Gothenburg, 
455 ; in Bergen, 480 ; need 
for additional, in Gothen- 
burg, 465 ; need for, in 
United Kingdom, 560 ; advo- 
cated by Parliamentary 
Commissions, 564-566 ; pro- 
posed scheme of, 572. 

Credit, sales on, destroj^ed by 
Russian spirit monopolj^, 
411 ; by Dispensary S5"stem, 
415 ; by Gothenburg sj-stem, 
505. 

Crime, intemperance and, 649 ; 
decrease in, in England, 
676. 



76o 



INDEX 



" Crooked Billet," 518. 
Crosfield, W., quoted, 365. 
Croydon, growth in population 
in, 567. 

Danyers, local option in, 312. 

Death Rate, see Mwcier Mortality. 

Deaths Due to Intemperance, 
86, 559, 665-6. 

Deering, city of, 137 (footnote). 

Deer Isle, 213 (footnote). 

Delaware, prohibition in, 121 ; 
proportion of urban popula- 
tion in, 123, 290, 698 ; den- 
sity of population in, 290, 
696 ; local option in, 290. 

Denmark, consumption of alcohol 
in, 73, 74, 607-9, 613. 

Density of Population in Pro- 
hibition States, compared 
with England and "Wales, 
248. 

De Quincey, quoted, 1. 

Disney, John, quoted, 66 (foot- 
note). 

Dispensary System, see under 
South Carolina, North Caro- 
lina, South Dakota, Ala- 
bama, Gleorgia, etc. 

Distilleries, number and size of, 
in United Kingdom, 88-89 ; 
number of, in Sweden, 436 ; 
in Norway, 473. 

Dover (Neav Hampshire), num- 
ber of liquor-sellers in, 224. 

Dow, General Neal, see under 
Neal. 

" Dow " Law, 284. 

Drink, expenditure upon, see 
under Expenditure. 

Drug Stores, in Prohibition 
States, see under -Maine 
and Prohibition. 

Drunkenness, i)revalence of, in 



England and Wales, 82, 676 ; 
geographical distribution of, 
83 ; comparison with crime, 
83, 676; prevalence of, in 
Prohibition States, 157, 701 ; 
in New York, 379 ; in South 
Carolina, 420 ; in Minnea- 
polis, 395 ; in Gothenburg, 
461 ; in Stockholm, 722 ; in 
London, 677 ; in Bergen, 483, 
733 ; prevalence of, among 
women, 85, 381, 677-679. 

Dublin, number of licensed 
premises in, 79, 673. 

Dundee, number of licensed 
premises in, 79 ; drunken- 
ness in, 679. 

Durham, drunkenness in, 84, 789 ; 
overcrowding in, 739. 

East London, average drink 
expenditure in, see under 
London, also under Over- 
crowding. 

Eastport, number of liquor- 
sellers in, 208. 

Economic Aspects op the Tem- 
perance Problem, 20. 

Economic Conditions as Deter- 
mining Consumption op 
Alcohol, 727. 

Eden, Sir Frederick, quoted, 66. 

Edinburgh, number of licensed 
premises in, 78, 672. 

Efficiency, relation of drink ex- 
penditure to, 28 ; necessaries 
for, 29 ; relation of food to, 
33, 624 ; relation of standard 
of life to, 42 ; different kinds 
of, 46. 

Ekman, Oscar, 443. 

Elections, General, in 1892 and 
1895, estimated influence of 
liquor trade upon, 99-110, 



INDEX 



761 



680; result of, since 1832, 
104 (footnote). 

Elections, Mnnicipal, influence 
of liquor trade upon, 107. 

Electoral Influence of Liquor 
Trade, 100-110, 238, 334, 390 
(footnote), 431, 531-8, 680. 

Electorate in Great Britain, 
103. 

ELLioT,MR.(Gotlienburg), quoted, 
461. 

Ellsworth, number of liquor- 
sellers in, 208. 

Employjient, conditions of, for 
working classes, 558 ; rela- 
tion of, to intemperance, 559. 

England and "Wales, number of 
licensed premises in, 77, 667, 
669 ; prevalence of drunken- 
ness in, 82, 676 ; geographi- 
cal distribution of drunken- 
ness in, 83 ; decrease of 
crime in, 676 ; deaths due to 
intemperance in, 86, 665-6 ; 
failure of licensing laws in, 
244, 525-530; overcrowding 
in, 552 ; see also under 
United Kingdom. 

Everett (Mass.), 322. 

Exeter, number of liquor-sellers 
in, 225. 

Expenditure upon Drink in the 
United Kingdom, 7, 615 ; 
by working classes, 9-20, 
616-617 ; economic import- 
ance of, 20, 58-59; relation 
of, to eificiency, 28 ; amount 
of intemperate, 56 ; " pro- 
ductive " and " non-produc- 
tive," 58. 



Fairfield, number of liquor- 
sellers in, 208. 



Falun, control of liquor traffic 
in, 446 (footnote). 

Fanshawe, E. L., quoted, 239, 
372, 392, 659. 

Federal Betail Liquor Li- 
cences, in U.S., 131 ; number 
taken out in Prohibition 
States, 132, 216, 228-230, 235, 
236 ; prosecutions for failure 
to take out, 699 ; see also 
binder each Prohibition city 
separately. 

Female Intemperance, see under 
Women. 

Fines for Violating Liquor 
Laws, 162, 192 ; see also 
under Prohibition. 

Florida, local option in, 259. 

Food, importance of, 30 ; injury 
inflicted by deficiency in, 
29-33 ; quantity and kind 
required, 33, 34, 624 ; neces- 
sary expenditure upon, 34 ; 
consumption of, in United 
States, 49; relative cost of, 
in United Kingdom and 
United States, 49, 635 ; rela- 
tive consumption of, in 
United States, Belgium, 
Great Britain, Germany, 
and France, 49-50. 

Fort Fairfield, number of 
liquor-sellers in, 208. 

Foster, D. B., quoted, 528 (foot- 
note), 545. 

Framingham, 313. 

France, consumption of alcohol 
in, 73 (footnote), 74, 607-9, 
613,622 ; food consumedin,49. 

Franklin, number of liquor- 
sellers in, 225. 

Fredericton, 341. 

Gardiner, 200 (footnote), 207, 



762 



INDEX 



211 (footnote) ; drunkenness 
in, 704. 

Gateshead, overcrowding in, 
555. 

Geddes, Patrick, quoted, 52. 

Georgia, local ojotion in, 260 ; 
Dispensary system in, 432. 

Germany, consumption of alcohol 
in, 74, 607-9, 613 ; indus- 
trial development of, 48 ; 
food consumed in, 49. 

GiFFEN, Sir Robert, quoted, 65. 

Gilchrist Trust, attendances 
at the lectures delivered 
under the auspices of, 579, 
741, 742. 

Girls, number of, employed in 
England and Wales, 583 ; 
need of clubs for, 582. 

Gladstone, Bight Hon. W. E., 
quoted, 67, 542. 

Glamorganshire, drunkenness 
in, 84. 

Glasgow, number of licensed 
j)remises in, 79, 672; work 
of People's Palace in, 575 ; 
drunkenness in, 678 ; female 
intemperance in, 85, 678. 

GoADBY, Edwin, quoted, 443. 

Gothenburg, intemperance of, in 
1862, 443; establishment of 
Company system in, 444 ; es- 
sential features of Company 
system in, 445 ; history of 
Company system in, 450 ; 
number of licences in, 451 ; 
character of drink-shops in, 
452 ; hours of sale in, 454 ; 
. establishment of eating- 
houses in, 455 ; establish- 
ment of reading-rooms in, 
455 ; consumption of spirits 
in, 456, 717 ; consumption of 
beer in, 458 ; effect of beer 
consumption uiDon drunken- 



ness, 460 ; arrests for drunk- 
enness in, 461 ; profits of 
company in, 717 ; petition 
by clergy in favour of Com- 
pany system, 466, 719 ; weak 
points in the system, 468, 
505 ; advantages of the 
Company system, 506, 734. 

Gothenburg Licensing System, 
444 ; essential features of, 
445 ; elimination of private 
profit, 446 ; easy enforce- 
ment of licensing laws un- 
der, 447 ; i^rogressive reforms 
facilitated by, 449 ; divorce 
of liquor traffic from politics 
effected by, 500, 501, 506; 
necessity of bringing beer 
under, 460, 464, 466, 502, 503 ; 
attitude of the Temperance 
party in Norway towards^ 
490, 492, 501, 502-3 ; petition 
of Gothenburg clergy in 
support'of , 466, 719 ; testimo- 
nies in favour of, in Norv/ay, 
486, 734; defects of, 468, 
505 ; advantages of, 500, 506 ; 
see also under Gothenburg, 
Stockholm, Bergen, Sweden 
and Norway. 

Goulburn, Mr., quoted, 67. 

Gould, Dr. E. E. L., quoted, 21, 
45, 49, 50, 390, 453, 487 (foot- 
note), 501. 

Governors, State, testimony of, 
to prohibition, 707. 

Graham, Robert, 389. 

Grantham, Mr. Justice, quoted, 
528. 

Greeley, prohibition in, 289. 

Greenock, number of licensed 
premises in, 79. 

Grocers' Licences, 327-8, 330, 
332, 333 (footnote), 335, 337, 
340, 351 (footnote), 372. 



INDEX 



763 



Guinness, Son & Co., Ltd., num- 
ber of shareholders in, 90, 

Gymnasia, proposed establish- 
ment of, in United Kingdom, 
583. 



Hack, Eev. Eollin T., quoted, 
174. 

Halifax (England), overcrowd- 
ing in, 555. 

Halifax (Nova Scotia), 338. 

Hallowell, 200 (footnote), 209, 
704. 

Hamilton, number of licensed 
premises in, 330. 

Hampstead, death-rate in, 555. 

Harcourt, Sir William, pro- 
posals of, 512, 747. 

Hartford, number of liquor- 
sellers in, 229. 

Health, amount of alcohol com- 
patible with, 7 (footnote) ; 
effect of intemperance upon, 
63-64. 

Hedlund, Dr. S. A., 443. 

High Licence, history of, 370 ; 
history and results of, in 
Pennsylvania, 370-373, 398 ; 
in New York State, 373, 388 ; 
evils of, 385, 389, 397; ad- 
vantages and disadvantages 
of, in United Kingdom, 398- 
399, 514. 

HoBSON, J. A., quoted, 22, 27, 47. 

Holland, consumption of alco- 
hol in, 74, 607-609, 613. 

Horsley, Eev. J. W., quoted, 

617. 
Hotels, proposals for, 747 ; regu- 
lations governing, see under 
each State and Colony 
separately. 
HouLTON, number of liquor- 



sellers in, 208 ; deputation 
to Governor of State at, 710. 

Hours of Sale, see under each 
State and Colony separately. 

Housing, Eoyal Commission on, 
quoted, 548, 556, 739. 

Housing op the People, 552 ; 
relation of, to intemperance, 
738. 

Hull, drunkenness in, 679. 

Hungary, consumption of alco- 
hol in, 74, 607-9, 613. 

Huxley, Pkof., quoted, 552, 555. 

Hyde Park (Mass.), no licence in, 
314. 



Illicit Sale of Liquor, see 
under Prohibition, High 
Licence, and Dispensary 
system. 

Illinois, prohibition in, 121 ; 
proportion of urban popu- 
lation in, 123, 279, 698; 
density of population in, 
696 ; local option in, 279. 

Immorality and Drink, 385, 
454. 

Importations of Liquor into 
Prohibition States, 155. 

Indiana, prohibition in, 121 ; 
local option in, 298; pro- 
portion of urban population 
in, 123, 298, 698 ; density of 
population in, 696. 

Industrial Competition, changes 
in, 48. 

Industrial Efficiency, see under 
Efficiency. 

Initiative, right of, under pro- 
posed scheme, 596, 

Insanity, relation of intem- 
perance to, 643. 

Inspectors, licence, 328, 337. 



764 



INDEX 



Intemperance as a Cause of 
Poverty, 22, 636 ; effect of, 
upon standard of life, 35 ; 
deaths due to,86,559,665-666; 
amount of sickness due to, 
63 ; intemperance among 
women, 85 ; pauperism due 
to, 636 ; insanity due to, 643 ; 
crime due to, 62, 649 ; rela- 
tion of overcrowding to, 738. 

Intemperate Consumption of 
Alcohol, see tinder Alcohol. 

Intemperate Expenditure upon 
Drink, 56. 

Intoxicants, see under Alcohol. 

Iowa, prohibition in, 121, 299 ; 
local option in, 300 ; density 
of population in, 696 ; pro- 
portion of urban population 
in, 123, 299, 698. 

Ireland, number of licensed 
premises in, 79. 

Italy, consumption of alcohol in, 
74, 607-9, 613. 

Jeans, J. S., quoted, 46. 

Jensen, Mr. Lars O., quoted, 504. 

Johnson, Mr. E,, quoted, 533, 534 
(footnote). 

JoNKOPiNG, control of liquor 
traffic in, 446 (footnote). 

Justices of Peace, disqualifica- 
tion of, 337. 

Kansas, prohibition in, 121, 230 ; 
density of population in, 
695 ; proportion of urban 
population in, 123, 697 ; non- 
enforcement of prohibitory 
law in cities in, 230 ; success 
in rural districts, 234. 

Kansas City (Kansas), non-en- 
forcement of prohibition in, 
230. 



Kansas City (Missouri), 230 

(footnote). 
Kant, Immanuel, quoted, 117. 
Keating, Yice-Consul, quoted, 

214. 
Keene, number of liquor-sellers 

in, 225. 
Kentucky, local option in, 262. 
KiDD, Benjamin, quoted, 48. 
Kilkenny, number of licensed 

premises in, 79. 
KoREN, John, quoted, see chapters 

III., Y., VII., YIIL 

Labour, definition of, 43 ; neces- 
saries required for efficient, 
43 ; food required for effi- 
cient, 629. 

Lac ONI A, number of liquor-sellers 
in, 225. 

Laddevin, increase in consump- 
tion of, in Norway, 495 ; 
effect upon statistics of 
drunkenness, 498. 

Lancashire, drunkenness in, 84 ; 
density of population in, 248. 

Law, non-enforcement of, in 
Prohibition States, 133 et 
seq. ] easy enforcement of 
under Gothenburg system, 
447 ; evasion of, by publicans 
in United Kingdom, 528. 

Lawson, Sir Wilfrid, support 
of, to principle of local con- 
trol, 543. 

Leavenworth, Kansas, non-en- 
forcement of prohibition in, 
233. 

Lebanon, number of liquor-sellers 
in, 225. 

Leeds, overcrowding in, 555 ; 
death-rate in, 556; number 
of licensed premises in, 669 ; 
growth of population in, 567. 



INDEX 



765 



Leith, number of licensed pre- 
mises in, 79. 

Leominster (Mass.), 313. 

Levi, Prof. Leone, quoted, 5 
(footnote), 9 (footnote), 56, 
520. 

Lewisham, death-rate in, 556. 

Lewiston, evidence as to pro- 
hibition in, 186 ; character 
of saloons in, 188 ; number 
of saloons in, 190 ; vote on 
prohibition in, 241 (foot- 
note) ; drunkenness in, 701. 

Licence, Private, see under Pri- 
vate Licence. 

Licence Pees, see under each 
State separately. 

Licences, see under Licensed 
Premises. 

Licensed Premises, number of, 
in United Kingdom, 76, 667- 
8; England and Wales, 77, 
667 ; Scotland, 78, 667 ; Ire- 
land, 79, 668, 670 ; London, 

77, 670-71; Manchester, 78, 
669 ; Liverpool, 78, 669 ; Bir- 
mingham, 78, 669 ; Sheffield, 

78, 669; Bristol, 78, 669; 
other provincial cities, 669 ; 
decrease in number of, 79 ; 
increased size of, 80 ; electoral 
influence of, 95-113, 533 ; 
number compared with pri- 
mary schools and clergy, 97 
(footnote) ; number and cha- 
racter of, in Gothenburg, 
451, 452 ; number and cha- 
racter of, in Bergen, 477, 
479; proposal to reduce 
number of, in United King- 
dom, 509, 513 ; growth in 
value of, in United Kingdom, 
515-521 ; statutory limit for, 
in Massachusetts, 307 ; in 



Canada, 329-340; in Aus- 
tralia, 353. 

Licensed Victuallers' Central 
Protection Society, objects 
of, 93; activity of, 94, 531, 
534 (footnote). 

Licensed Victuallers' Official 
Annual, quoted, 92 (foot- 
note), 100, 108. 

Licensing Authority under Pro- 
posed Scheme, 597. 

Licensing Laws, failure of, in 
United Kingdom, 244, 525- 
530. 

Licensing World, quoted, 96 (foot- 
note), 532, 536, 537. 

Limerick, number of licensed 
premises in, 79. 

Liquor, seizures of, 161, 706; 
evils of private sale of, 515- 
545 ; necessity for divorcing 
amusements from sale of, 
565, 571 ; see also tinder 
Alcohol. 

Liquor Agency, City, in Port- 
land, 153. 

Liquor Agency, State, in Maine, 
699. 

Liquor-sellers, disqualification 
of, 340, 356. 

Liquor Tax, Federal, see tinder 
Federal Retail Liquor Li- 
cences. 

Liquor Trade, extent and re- 
sources of, 88-91 ; corruption 
of social and political life 
due to, 92, 334, 390 (foot- 
note) ; electoral organization 
of, 93, 530-538 ; defence fund, 
92; opposition to reform, 
530; profits of, in United 
Kingdom, 588, 743 ; in Swe- 
den and Norway, 726-7; 
loss resulting from, 61-66 ; 



766 



INDEX 



capital invested in, 89, 726 ; 
see also under Political In- 
fluence of Liquor Trade. 

Lisbon Falls, liquor-selling in, 
209. 

Liverpool, number of licensed 
premises in, 78, 669; over- 
crowding in, 555 ; death-rate 
in, 556 ; drunkenness in, 678 ; 
female intemperance in, 85, 
678 ; growth, of population 
in, 567. 

Local Control op the Liquor 
Traffic, Mr. Chamberlain's 
proposals for principle of, 
supported by Mr. Gladstone, 
John Bright, Sir Wilfrid 
Lawson, etc., 542-3; how 
principle can be applied to 
United Kingdom, 544; see 
also under Gothenburg Sys- 
tem. 

Local Option, extent of, 250 ; 
character and operation of, 
in United States, 251-322; 
extent of, in Canada, 323 ; in 
Australia, 347 ; in New Zea- 
land, 358 ; in Norway, 474 ; 
in Sweden, 438; method of 
effecting, in Sweden, 716; 
Mr. Gladstone on, 542; see 
also under Local Veto. 

Local Veto, proposals for, 511, 
601 ; successful operation of, 
in United Kingdom, 364 ; see 
also under Local Option. 

London (Central), see under 
London. 

London County Council, in- 
fluence of liquor trade in 
election of, 108-9. 

London (East), see under London. 

London, expenditure upon drink 
in, 13 ; poverty in, 22, 548 ; 



number of underfed children 
in, 36-9 ; cost of rent in, 
40-1 ; number of licensed 
premises in, 77, 670-1 ; value 
of licensed premises in, 78, 
521, 671 ; increased size of 
licensed premises in, 81 ; 
density of population in, 
551 ; overcrowding in, 553 ; 
female intemperance in, 85, 
677 ; arrests for drunkenness 
in, 677 ; growth of popula- 
tion in, 567. 

Lords' Committee on Intemper- 
ance, quoted, 521, 565, 603 ; 
see also under Select Com- 
mittees. 

Loss, National, from Drink 
Traffic, 60-69. 

Louisiana, local option in, 264. 

Machinery, improvements in, 
46 ; strain of attending to, 
47. 

Maine, prohibition in, 121, 124 ; 
density of population in, 
129, 210 (footnote), 695 ; pro- 
portion of urban population 
in, 123, 129, 697 ; drunken- 
ness in, 158, 245, 701 ; history 
of prohibition in, 124, 170 ; 
federal liquor taxpayers in, 
131-2 ; non-enforcement of 
the law in, 131-215 ; failure 
of prohibition in towns and 
cities of, 213 ; condition of 
things in smaller towns, 207 ; 
testimony of State Govern- 
ors, 707 ; importations of 
liquor into, 155; liquor 
agency in, 699 ; vote on pro- 
hibition in, 238; political 
influence of liquor trade in, 
238, 707; city government 



INDEX 



767 



in, 243 ; success of proliibi- 
tion in rural districts of, 
210, 707 ; injury to temper- 
ance and morals in, 245. 

Malden (Mass.), 317, 322. 

Manchester (England), number 
of licensed premises in, 78, 
669, 672 ; density of popula- 
tion in, 551 ; overcrowding 
in, 555 ; death-rate in, 556 ; 
drunkenness in, 678 ; female 
intemperance in, 85, 678 ; 
growth of population in, 
567. 

Manchester (New Hampshire), 
number of liquor-saloons in, 
217; arrests for drunken- 
ness in, 704 ; regulations 
for governing liquor traffic 
in, 218 ; revenue from liquor 
traffic in, 219. 

Manitoba, 343. 

Marshall, Prof., quoted, 21, 29, 
39, 43, 47, 54. 

Maryland, local option in, 281. 

" Masonic Hotel," 517. 

Massachusetts, prohibition in, 
121, 244, 304 ; proportion of 
urban population ,in, 123, 
304, 698 ; density of popula- 
tion in, 696 ; failure of State 
prohibition in towns of, 
304-5 ; local option in, 304 ; 
licence fees in, 308 ; licence 
regulations in, 308-9 ; sta- 
tutory limit in, 307 ; suc- 
cess of local option in towns 
of, 309 ; success of local op- 
tion in cities, with a " safety 
valve," 315. 

M'DouGALL, Alexander, quoted, 
639. 

McKelway, Eev. a. J., quoted, 
428. 



McKenzie, F. a., quoted. 111, 
373. 

M'Leod, Dr., quoted, 326 (foot- 
note), 338, 394. 

Mechanics Falls, 213 (footnote). 

Medford (Mass.), 318, 322. 

Meinert, Dr., quoted, 34, 633. 

Melbourne, see under Victoria. 

Menace to Social and Political 
Life from the Liquor Trade, 
see under Liquor Trade, also 
tinder Political Influence of 
Liquor Trade. 

Michigan, prohibition in, 121 
proportion of urban popu- 
lation in, 123, 265, 698 
density of population in 
265, 696 ; local option in 
265. 

Mile End, density of population 
in, 551. 

Mill, John Stuart, quoted, 117. 

Minneapolis, high licence in, 
392. 

Minnesota, local option in, 282 ; 
high licence in, 392. 

Minors, sales to, see under each 
State and Colony separately. 

Mississippi, local option in, 266. 

Missouri, local option in, 268. 

MoNCTON, prohibition in, 341. 

Monopoly State, see under State. 

Monopoly Values, created by 
private licence, 515 ; growth 
of, in United Kingdom, 520- 
521. 

Montana, local option in, 269. 

Montpelier, number of liquor- 
sellers in, 229 ; arrests for 
drunkenness in, 706. 

Montreal, see tinder Quebec. 

Moore, Eev. Philip H., quoted, 
197. 

Mortality, rate of, in London 



768 



INDEX 



parishes, 555-6 ; rate of, in 
various industries, 559 ; 
number of deatlis due to 
intemperance, 86, 559, 665-6. 

Moss, Hon. Frank, quoted, 389. 

MoTT, A. J., quoted, 90 (footnote). 

Mulct Act (Ioava), provisions of, 
299. 

MuLHALL, quoted, 9 (footnote). 

MUNDELLA, Et. HoN. A. J., 

quoted, 13. 
Municipal Elections, influence 

of liquor trade upon, 107- 

112. 
Musculak Exertion, decline in 

demand for, in industry, 

46. 



Naples, low efficiency of people 
of, 32. 

Nashua, open liquor-selling in, 
220; arrests for drunken- 
ness in, 704. 

Natal, consumption of alcoliol 
in, 76, 610-612, 614. 

National Taste, relation of con- 
sumption of spirits to, 718. 

National Trade Defence Fund, 
92. 

Neal Dow, General, quoted, 130, 
157, 192 (footnote), 214 ; 
efforts to secure prohibi- 
tion, 125-126. 

Nebraska, prohibition in, 121 ; 
local option in, 291 ; density 
of population in, 696 ; pro- 
portion of urban population 
in, 123, 291, 698. 

" Necessaries," definition of, 29, 
43 ; deprivation of, through 
drink, 30-42. 

New Brunswick, local option in, 
339. 



Newcastle-on-Tyne, number of 
licensed houses in, 669 ; 
value of licensed property 
in, 523 ; overcrowding in, 
555. 

Newfoundland, consumption of 
alcohol in, 76, 610-612, 614. 

New Hampshire, prohibition in, 
121, 215 ; number of liquor- 
sellers in, 216 ; density of 
population in, 695 ; propor- 
tion of urban population in, 
123, 697 ; statistics of drunk- 
enness in, 704. 

New Jersey, local option in, 
293. 

Newmarch, Wm., quoted, 28. 

New Mexico, liquor regulations 
in, 302. 

New South Wales, consump- 
tion of alcohol in, 76, 610- 
612, 614 ; local option in, 347. 

Newton (Mass.), 322. 

New Voice ^ quoted, 162, 172. 

New York State, prohibition in, 
121 ; local option in, 283, 
381 ; history and results of 
high licence in, 373. 

New Zealand, consumption of 
alcohol in, 76, 610-612, 614 ; 
local option in, 358. 

NiTTi (Prof.), quoted, 31, 43, 49. 

" No Licence," see iitider Prohi- 
bition, Local Option, Local 
Veto, etc. ; also under Massa- 
chusetts. 

Non-Nutrition as a Cause of 
Intemperance, 36. 

North Carolina, local option in, 
270 ; Dispensary system in, 
427. 

Northcote, Sir Stafford, quoted, 
68. 

North Dakota, prohibition in, 



INDEX 



769 



121, 236 ; proportion of urban 
population in, 123, 697 ; den- 
sity of population in, 695. 

Northumberland, drunkenness 
in, 84, 739 ; overcrowding 
in, 739. 

North- West Territories, 345. 

Norway, consumption of alcohol 
in, 73, 607-9, 613, 724-725 ; 
comparison with chief Euro- 
pean countries, 74, 607-9, 
613 ; population of, 471 ; 
proportion of urban popula- 
tion in, 471 ; comparison 
with Sweden, 471-2; early; 
temperance history of, 472 
free distillation in, 472 ; ex- 
ercise of local veto in, 474 ; 
history of the Company sys- 
tem in, 474 ; recent decline 
in consumption of spirits in, 
476 ; changes made by the 
law of July 24th, 1894, 488 ; 
results of recent suppression 
of Samlags in, 490-493 ; sud- 
den increase in consump- 
tion of wine (laddevin), 495 ; 
causes of increase, 496; ef- 
fect of increase upon statis- 
tics of drunkenness, 849 ; 
appropriation of profits in, 
under Act of 1894, 498-9 ; 
divorce of liquor traffic from 
politics in, 500 ; growth and 
influence of Temperance 
movement in, 730 ; relation 
of economic conditions to 
reduced consumption of 
spirits in, 727 ; profits of 
Samlags in, 727 ; consump- 
tion of coffee, tobacco, etc., 
in, 728. 

Norwegian Abstinence Society, 
particulars of, 731. 



Nova Scotia, local option in 
336. 



" Ord Arms," 519. 

" Off " Licences, see under Li- 
censed Premises. 

Ohio, local option in, 284. 

Oklahoma, liquor system in, 
302. 

Old Town, number of liquor- 
sellers in, 208. 

" On " Licences, see under Li- 
censed Premises. 

Ontario, local option in, 327. 

Option, Local, see under Local 
Option. 

Oregon, State of, 301. 

Oscar I. of Sweden, 437. 

Ottawa, number of licensed pre- 
mises in, 330* 

Overcrowding in England and 
Wales, 552 ; in London 
553 ; in principal provincial 
cities, 555 ; effects of, 555 ; 
relation of intemperance to 
738. 

Paducah, 263. 

Paisley, number of licensed pre- 
mises in, 79. 

Parkes, Dr., quoted, 7 (footnote). 

Parliament, Members of , attitude 
towards the liquor trade, 98, 

Parliamentary Commissions, see 
under Royal Commissions 
and Select Committees. 

Parliamentary Elections, influ- 
ence of the liquor trade in, 
99, 680. 

Pasadena, prohibition in, 287. 

Pauperism, relation of intemper- 
ance to, 636. 

Paupers, diet of, in Whitechapel , 

49 



770 



INDEX 



34, 626 ; diet of, in St. Pan- 
eras, 34, 627. 

Peabody (Mass.), 314. 

Pearson, Rev. S. F., quoted, 245. 

Pease, Mk. E. E.., quoted, 516. 

Pembrokeshire, drunkenness in, 
84. 

Penalties under Prohibition, 
127. 

Pennsylvania, liigli licence in, 
370, 398. 

People's Palaces, proposal to 
establish, in United King- 
dom, 573 ; work of, in East 
London, 574 ; in Glasgow, 
575 ; how to be maintained 
when established, 587. 

Petition by clergy in Gothen- 
burg in favour of Company 
system, 466, 719. 

Philadelphia, results of high 
licence in, 371, 398. 

Phillips, Miss M. E., case of, 448 
(footnote). 

Physiocrats, economic views of, 
43. 

Picture Galleries, number of 
visitors to, in United King- 
dom, 577-578. 

Playfair, Lord, quoted, 51, 629 
(footnote). 

Pleas of Prohibitionists, 241- 
245. 

Plymouth, overcrowding in, 555 ; 
number of licensed premises 
in, 669. 

" Pocket Peddling," definition 
of, 223 (footnote). 

Poland (Maine), 213 (footnote). 

Police, the, and the liquor 
traffic, 112-113, 390 (foot- 
note). 

Political Influence of the 
Liquor Trade, 92-107, 238, 



334, 390 (footnote), 431, 502, 
531-538,680 ; destroyed under 
the Dispensary system, 423 ; 
also under the Gothenburg 
system, 500 ; not eliminated 
by high licence, 399. 

Poor, conditions of life for the, 
22, 548 ; see also under 
Poverty. 

Population of United Kingdom, 
8 ; density of, in Prohibition 
States, 120 ; in England and 
Wales, 248, 551 ; proportion 
of urban population in Prohi- 
bition States, 122 ; compared 
with England and Wales, 
249 ; total amount of urban 
population in England and 
Wales, 593 ; growth of urban 
population in United States, 
247 ; see also under separate 
States. 

PoRSGRUND, suppression of Sam- 
lag in, 493. 

Portland Advertiser^ quoted, 163. 

Portland (Maine), drunkenness 
in, 157, 701 ; drunken persons 
not arrested in, 159, 160 ; 
non - enforcement of prohi- 
bitory law in, 137 ; open 
saloons in, 138, 146 ; number 
of liquor saloons in, 141 
seizures of liquor in, 161, 
706 ; liquor bottling fac- 
tories in, 143 ; sale of liquor 
at drug stores in, 145, 150 ; 
" kitchen bars " in, 150 ; 
importations of liquor, 155 ; 
liquor agency in, 151, 153, 
700 ; quantity of liquor con- 
sumed in, 155 ; vote on pro- 
hibition in, 240; adminis- 
tration of the prohibition 
law in, 161 ; present condi- 



INDEX 



771 



tion of things not excep- 
tional, 169 ; city govern- 
ment in, 243. 

Portsmouth (New Hampshire), 
open liqnor-selling in, 224 ; 
drunkenness in, 705. 

Portugal, consumption of alco- 
hol in, 74, 607-609, 613. 

Poverty, extent of, 22, 548; 
amount of, attributable to 
intemperance, 22 ; relation 
of, to " under-consumption," 
25. 

Prince Edward Island, 344. 

Private Licence, evils of, 515- 
545; proposals for abolition 
of, 572. 

Private Profit, effect of, 515; 
elimination of, under Go- 
thenburg system, 446 ; ne- 
cessity for elimination of, 
in United Kingdom, 515-545. 

Problem, statement of the, 1-87 ; 
solution of the, 509-604. 

Productive and Non-Produc- 
tive Consumption, 58. 

Profit, private, see under Pri- 
vate Profit. 

Profits of the Liquor Traffic, 
amount of, in United King- 
dom, 588 ; Sweden and Nor- 
way, 726-727, 747 ; appropri- 
ation of, in Sweden, 751 ; in 
Bergen, 484 ; new appropria- 
tion of, in Norway, 498, 499 ; 
proposed appropriation of, 
in United Kingdom, 590. 

Prohibition, a priori objections 
to, 116; John Stuart Mill 
and, 117 ; prohibition in the 
United States, 118 ; char- 
acter of, 119; States that 
have abandoned, 120; his- 
tory of, in Maine, 124; 



general results of the law 
in Maine, 129; non-enforce- 
ment of law, 131 et seq. ; 
failure in towns and cities, 
213, 305 ; success where 
"safety valve," 311, 315, 
322, 364, 369 ; importance of 
failure in towns, 248 ; votes 
on, 238-240, 271, 306 (foot- 
note), 318, 715; connection 
with politics, 238, 707; 
effect in degrading the 
liquor traffic, 241; alleged 
" relative " character of the 
failure of, 242 ; causes of 
failure of, 236, 272; injury 
to temperance and morals 
wrought by, 245; reaction 
against, 246, 713 ; testimony 
of State Governors, 707 ; 
success of, in rural districts, 
210, 225, 229, 234, 339, 342, 
346, 367, 707 ; in wards and 
suburbs of cities, 253, 315, 
322, 364-367, 369 ; in Canada 
323 ; in Sweden, 438-440 ; in 
Norway, 474; in United 
Kingdom, 364 ; see also under 
Local Option, Massachu- 
setts, and Australia. 

Prohibition States, density of 
population in, compared 
with ex-prohibition states, 
120, 695 ; proportion of 
urban population in, com- 
pared with ex-prohibition 
states, 122, 697 ; compared 
with England and Wales, 
248-249 ; payment of United 
States liquor tax in, 131. 

Prohibitionists, pleas of, 241- 
245. 

Prohibitory Law in Maine, 
provisions of, 127, 131 ; ad- 



772 



INDEX 



ministration of, 161 : general 
results of, 129 ; failure in 
towns and cities, 213 ; rela- 
tion of, to politics, 238, 707 ; 
see also under Maine and 
Prohibition. 

Proof Spirit, definition of, 3; 
consumption of, in United 
Kingdom, 3. 

Proteids, amount required as 
food, 32-35, 629. 

Publicans, pushing of sales by, 
524 ; evasion of law by, 528 ; 
opposition to reform by, 530 ; 
political influence of, 101- 
113, 238, 334, 390, 431, 531- 
538, 680. 

Public-Houses, causes of attrac- 
tion of, 560; character of, 
under proposed scheme, 595 5 
total amount spent in, 588 ; 
profits of, 589, 743 ; see also 
under Licensed Premises. 

PuLLEN, Capt., quoted, 320 (foot- 
note). 

Pullman, Illinois, prohibition in, 
322 (footnote). 



Quarter Sessions, results of 

appeals to, in England and 

Wales, 675 ; in Scotland, 

675. 
Quebec, Province of, local 

option in, 332. 
Quebec, City of, licence fees in, 

334. 
Queensland, consumption of 

alcohol in, 76, 610-612, 614 ; 

local option in, 352. 
Queen's Park, Kensal Green, 

prohibition in, 366. 
QuEENSTowN, number of licensed 

premises in, 79. 



QuiNCY (Mass.), " no licence" in 
316, 318. 

" Eaines " Excise Law, see under 
New York State. 

" Eaines Law Hotels," 385. 

Baynhau (Mass.), 316 (footnote). 

Keaction against Prohibition^ 
713. 

Beason, W., quoted, 561. 

Becreation of the People, de- 
ficiency in social arrange- 
ments for, in United King- 
dom, 560 ; in Sweden, 465 ; 
need of emphasized by 
various Parliamentary Com- 
missions, 564 ; proposals for 
organizing the, 572. 

Beform Temperance, see under 
Temperance Beform. 

Bent, cost of, 40-42. 

Bestaurants, proposals for, 747. 

Bevenue Derived from Drink 
Traffic, 60 ; effect of tem- 
perance reform upon, 60-70. 

Bhode Island, prohibition in, 
121, 271 ; density of popula- 
tion in, 271, 696 5 proportion 
of urban population in, 123^ 
698 ; local option in, 271. 

BiCHARDSON, Sir B. W., quoted^ 
551. 

BiVERSiDE, prohibition in, 287. 

BoBERTS, J. B., quoted, 617. 

BocHESTER (New Hampshire), 
number of liquor-sellers in, 
225. 

BocKiNGHAM, uumbcr of liquor- 
sellers in, 229. 

BocKLAND, number of liquor- 
sellers in, 204 ; drunkenness 
in, 703. 

BocKPORT, number of liquor- 
sellers, 208. 



INDEX 



773 



BosEBERY, Lord, quoted, 106, 
107, 586, 601. 

HoYAL Commission on Housing, 
548, 556, 739. 

KoYAL Commission on Liquor 
Licensing Laavs, quoted, 
510, 617, 743. 

E,URAL Districts, success of pro- 
hibition in, 210, 225, 229, 
234, 239, 326, 339, 367, 368, 
see also under Local Option. 

EusKiN, John, quoted, 61 (foot- 
note). 

Russia, consumption of alcohol 
in, 74, 608-609, 613; spirit 
monopoly in, 400 ; history 
and results of, 400-411; effect 
of monoply upon sale of 
beer, 404. 

Rutland, prohibition in, 228; 
drunkenness in, 705. 

Saco, number of liquor-sellers 
in, 208. 

Salford, death-rate in, 556 ; 
number of liquor saloons 
in, 669. 

Samlag, see under Norway and 
Bergen. 

Sanford, number of liquor- 
sellers in, 208. 

-" Safety Valve," importance of 
a, 311, 315, 364, 369, 396. 

Scandinavian System, the, see 
under Norway and Sweden. 

Schcenhof, quoted, 43, 45. 

School Attendance, irregularity 
in, caused by drink, 37. 

Schools, Primary Day, number 
of, in England and Wales, 
compared with licensed 
premises, 97 (footnote). 

Scotland, number of licensed 
premises in, 78. 



" Scott " Act, see under Canada. 

Seizures of Liquor in Portland, 
161, 706. 

Select Committee (1834), quoted, 
118 (footnote), 564, 596 ; 
(1850), 525 ; (1854), 526, 565 ; 
(I860), 565 ; (1879), 521, 565, 
603 ; see also under Lords' 
Committee. 

Share Capital of Scandinavian 
Companies, 726. 

Shares, brewery and distillery, 
number and distribution of, 
in U.K., 88-91. 

Shaw, Dr. Claye, quoted, 644. 

Sheffield, number of licensed 
premises in, 78, 669 ; over- 
crowding in, 555 ; death- 
rate in, 556. 

Shropshire, drunkenness in, 84. 

Sickness due to Intemperance, 
63, 64. 

Simpson, Sir James, quoted, 64. 

Skein, suppression of Samlag in, 
492, 493. 

Skowhegan, number of liquor- 
sellers in, 208. 

" Slocumb " Law, 291. 

Sobriety, effect of, upon indus- 
trial efficiency, 28 ; relation 
of to standard of life, 53. 

SoHo, number of licensed pre- 
mises in, 78 ; density of po- 
pulation in, 551 ; death-rate 
in, 556. 

Soldier, British, diet of, 34, 632. 

Soldier, American, diet of, 34, 
632, 633. 

SoMERSwoRTH, uumber of liquor- 
sellers in, 225. 

SoMERViLLE, " iio liccuce " iu, 
321. 

South Australia (northern ter- 
ritory), consumption of al- 



774 



INDEX 



cohol in, 76, 610-612, 614; 
local option in, 353. 

South Australia (except north.- 
em territory), consumption 
of alcohol in, 76, 610-612, 
614 ; local option in, 353. 

South Carolina, local option in, 
302, 413, 421 ; history and 
results of Dispensary system 
in, 412 ; comparison with. 
Scandinavian system, 425. 

South Dakota, prohibition in, 
121 ; proportion of urban 
population in, 123, 698 ; 
density of population in, 
696 ; local option in, 274 ; 
dispensary system in, 431. 

South England, decline of effi- 
ciency of labour in, 44. 

Spain, consumption of alcohol in, 
74, 607-609, 613. 

" Speak-easies," 373. 

Spence, F. S., quoted, 346. 

Spencer, Herbert, quoted, 51. 

Spirits, consumption of, see 
under Alcohol. 

Spitalpields, density of popu- 
lation in, 551. 

Standard of Life, relation of, 
to industrial efficiency, 42 ; 
relation of intemperance to, 
41 ; relation of temperance 
to, 53. 

State Monopoly, see under 
Eussia, South Carolina, and 
Switzerland. 

Statutory Limit, see under 
Licensed Premises. 

Stavanger, suppression of Sam- 
lag in, 492, 493. 

St. Alban's (Vermont), number 
of liquor sellers in, 229 ; 
arrests for drunkenness in, 
705. 



St. George's, Hanover Square^ 
death-rate in, 556. 

St. Gteorge's-in-the-East, den- 
sity of population in, 551 ; 
overcrowding in, 553 (foot- 
note) ; death-rate in, 556. 

St. George the Martyr, South- 
wark, density of population 
in, 551 ; death-rate in, 556. 

St. Giles-in-the-Eields, number 
of licensed premises in, 78. 

St. John (N.B.), 340. 

St. Johnsbury, number of 
liquor-sellers in, 229. 

St. Pancras Workhouse, cost of 
food in, 34, 627. 

St. Paul, Minn., high licence 
in, 396. 

St. Petersburg, results of spirit 
monopoly in, 402 ; sale of 
beer in, 404. 

Stockholm, history of Gothen- 
burg system in, 467, 720. 

Strand, death rate in, 556. 

Suburbs and Wards of Cities, 
successful prohibition in, 
315, 364, 369. 

Sub-Licensing, system of, in 
Gothenburg, 452, 506 ; not 
sanctioned in Bergen, 479. 

Sunday Closing. See under each 
State and Colony separately. 

Sunderland, over-crowding in, 
555 ; licensed premises in, 
669.' 

Sweden, consumption of alcohol 
in, 73, 442, 607-609, 613; 
comparison with chief 
European countries, 74, 
607-609, 613 ; temperance 
legislation in, 434; effects 
of free distillation of spirits 
in, 436, 437; the law of 
1855. provisions of, 437 ; 



INDEX 



775 



density of population in, 
439 ; proportion of nrban 
population in, 439; local 
option in, 438, 440; prob- 
lem of tlie towns in, 441 ; 
consumption of beer in, 
442, 723; profits of the 
bolags in, 726; method of 
appropriating profits in, 
751 ; towns possessing bo- 
lags, 722. 

Swedish Temperance Society, 
437. 

Switzerland, consumption of 
alcohol in, 74, 607-609, 613 ; 
federal alcohol monopoly in, 
411. 

Sydney, 347 (footnote), 348-350. 

Tammany Hall and the Liquor 
Trade, 111, 390 (footnote). 

Tasmania, consumption of alcohol 
in, 76, 610-612, 614; local 
option in, 354. 

Tatham, Dr., quoted, 556. 

Taunton, 316. 

Teetotalers, number of, in 
United Kingdom, 5. 

Temperance Cafes, proposed es- 
tablishment of, 584. 

Temperance Cause, quoted, 433. 

Temperance, efi'ect of, upon in- 
dustry, 28; relation of to 
wages and the standard of 
life, 53. 

Temperance Movement, growth 
of in United Kingdom, 
1, 2 ; growth and influence 
of in Norway, 730. 

Temperance Problem, economic 
aspects of the, 20. 

Temperance E.eform, opposition 
of liquor trade to, 530 ; di- 
vorce of politics from the 



liquor traffic essential to suc- 
cessful, 515-541 ; need for con- 
structive as well as control- 
ling reforms, 545 ; proposed 
scheme of, for United King- 
dom, 572. 

Territory, definition of a, 252 
(footnote). 

Testimonies, in favour of Nor- 
wegian Company system, 
734. 

Texas, local option in, 275. 

Thompson, Sir Henry, quoted, 32. 

Thomson, Lord Provost Mit- 
chell, quoted, 522. 

Threlfalls, Ltd., number of 
shareholders in, 90. 

Tied House System, in New 
York, 387 ; in Norway, 502 ; 
evils of in United Kingdom, 
538. 

Times, The, quoted, 539, 545. 

Tobacco, consumption of in Nor- 
way, 728. 

TopEKA, prohibition in, 231. 

Toronto, number of licensed pre- 
mises in, 330. 

Towns and Cities, failure of pro- 
hibition in the, 213, 305 ; 
problem of the in the United 
Kingdom, 513 ; growth of in 
United Kingdom, 567. 

ToxTETH Park, Liverpool, pro- 
hibition in, 365. 

Trade (Liquor) Electoral Or- 
ganisation, Article ou, quo- 
ted, 94. 

Trevelyan, Sir George O., 
quoted, 1, 29. 

Under-fed Children, 37. 
United Kingdom Alliance, Com- 
mittee of, quoted, 479, 486. 
United Kingdom, population of. 



776 



INDEX 



8 ; number of families in, 9 ; 
consumption of alcohol in, 
1840-1899, 4, 607 ; intemper- 
ate consumption of alcohol 
in, 56 ; comparison with. 
United States, 61, 70 ; com- 
parison with chief European 
countries, 74, 607-609, 613 ; 
consumption of alcohol in, 
compared with the British 
Colonies, 75, 610-612, 614; 
value of licensed premises 
in, 515-521; how to effect 
local control of drink traffic 
in, 511; proposals for tem- 
perance reform in, 509; 
number of brewers and dis- 



tillers in. 



failure of 



licensing laws in, 244, 525- 
530. 

United States, industrial com- 
petition of, 48 ; superior 
efficiency of working-men 
in, 49 ; consumption of food 
in, 49, 50 ; effect of reducing 
drink expenditure in United 
Kingdom to level of, 61, 71 ; 
consumption of alcohol in, 
compared with United King- 
dom, 70, 607-609, 613 ; com- 
parison with chief European 
countries, 74, 607-609, 613; 
corruption of municipal life 
in. 111, 242 ; prohibition in, 
118; liquor tax certificates 
in, 131; growth of urban 
population in, 247. 

United States Liquor Tax, pay- 
ment of, in various States, 
see under Federal. 

Urban Population, see under 
Population. 

Urdahl, Mr., quoted, 492, 494. 

Utah, local option in, 294. 



Values, Monopoly, see under 
Monopoly Values. 

Vermont, prohibition in, 121, 
226 ; density of population 
in, 695 ; proportion of urban 
population in, 123, 697 ; 
drunkenness in, 226 (foot- 
note), 705; crime in, 226 
(footnote). 

Veto, Local, see under Local 
Veto and Local Option. 

Victoria, consumption of alco- 
hol in, 76, 610-612, 614; 
local option in, 350. 

Virginia, local option in, 276. 

Voice, quoted, 105 (footnote); 
see also New Voice. 

VoiT, Prof., quoted, 34, 629. 

Voting on Prohibition, 238, 240, 
271, 306 (footnote), 715 ; see 
also under each State separ- 
ately. 

Wages, effect of temperance 
upon, 53; proportion of 
spent on drink, 9-19; pro- 
portion of spent on rent, 
40-41. 

Waiting Booms for Workmen, 
provision of, in Bergen, 480. 

Wakefield (Mass.), 313. 

Waldoborough, number of 
liquor-sellers in, 208. 

Walker, Charles, quoted, 93, 
100 (footnote), 531, 534, 744. 

Walker, F. A., quoted, 10 (foot- 
note), 22, 39, 44. 

Washington, State of, 294 ; 
city of, 297. 

" Washingtonian " Society, 245. 

Watch Committees and the 
Liquor Traffic, 112. 

Waterford, number of licensed 
premises in, 79. 



INDEX 



777 



Waterville, non-enforcement of 
prohibition in, 204; num- 
ber of saloons in, 206 ; drunk- 
enness in, 703. 

Western Australia, consump- 
tion of alcohol in, 76, 610- 
612, 614; local option in, 
356. 

West Ham, growth of popula- 
tion in, 567. 

West Rutland, number of 
liquor-sellers in, 229. 

West Virginia, local option in, 
295. 

Weymouth (Mass.), 314. 

White, William, J.P., quoted, 
39 (footnote). 

Whitechapel, density of popu- 
lation in, 551. 

Whitechapel Workhouse, cost 
of food in, 34, 626. 

Wholesale Liquor Trade, con- 
duct of, in South Corolina, 
417. 

Whyte, James, quoted, 90, 444, 
445. 

Wichita, prohibition in, 232. 

WiESELGREN, Peter, 437, 443. 

WiESELGREN, SiGFRID, Dr., 

quoted, 438. 
Williams, Marchant, quoted, 

41. 
Wilson, Dr. G. E., quoted, 645. 
Wilson, T. M., quoted, 736. 
Wine, consumption of, in United 

Kingdom, 607 ; consumption 



of, in United States, 607; 
alcoholic strength of, 3 (foot- 
note) ; 75 (footnote) ; in Nor- 
way, 497 ; increase in con- 
sumption of, in Norway, 
495 ; consumption of, in 
principal European coun- 
tries, 607. 

Wire, Alderman, quoted, 520. 

Wisconsin, local option in, 277. 

WoLLowicz, Dr., quoted, 7 (foot- 
note). 

Women, intemperance among, 
85, 381, 677 ; sale of liquor 
forbidden to, 273. 

Workhouse Diets, 620. 

Working Classes, expenditure 
upon drink, 9-20, 616, 617 ; 
number of families of, 9; 
proportion of total popula- 
tion, 9 ; average income of, 
10, 623; no margin in in- 
comes of, for drink expendi- 
ture, 33-42 ; rents paid by, 
40-41 ; housing of, 552 ; con- 
ditions of employment of, 
558 ; need of recreation, 560. 

Workmen, American, food ex- 
penditure of, 635. 

Wright, Eev. A. H., quoted, 173. 

Wright, Hon. Carroll D., 
quoted, 660. 

Wyoming, local option in, 296. 

Zealand, New, see under New 
Zealand. 



Extracts from Opinions of the Press 

' ' The elaborate treatise on The Temperance Problem and Social Reform by 
Mr. Joseph Rowntree and Mr. Arthur Sherwell will be welcomed by all serious 
students of the social condition of the people as an invaluable compendium 
of authentic information on all aspects of the subject." — Times. 

"We have never seen the problem of the drink misery more clearly or dis- 
passionately reviewed." — The Daily Chronicle in a leading article. 

' ' Many people turn aside from temperance literature because they feel it to 
be too intemperate, too uncompromising, to be of any real use in solving the 
problems of the drink traffic. That is not the kind of temperance Hterature 
which has been supplied by Mr. Joseph Rowntree and Mr. Arthur Sherwell, in 
the important book just issued for them by Messrs. Hodder and Stoughton. 
It is a book brimful of interesting facts and figures. ... Of the various 
methods already tried full information is supplied in a compact form, conveni- 
ent henceforth for reference." — The Daily News. 

"The completest, the best informed, and the sanest work on the drink 
traffic, and the various remedies proposed for it, that has yet been pubUshed." 
— Westminster Gazette. 

' ' This notable book is an important contribution to the most difficult and 
most important of all social problems. " — Manchester Guardian. 

' ' The difficult and intricate temperance problem has never, perhaps been 
more clearly stated nor more calmly and intelligently considered than it is in 
this volume.'' — Western Morning News. 

" A most valuable and satisfactory book." — Echo. 

' ' A singularly clear and impressive exposition of ' The Temperance 
Problem and Social Reform. ' The practical suggestions made in the book for 
the control of the liquor trade, and for lessening in various directions the 
extent of the evil, appear to us, in the m^ain, to be sound and reasonable." — 
Speaker. 

" An important book both for the extreme lucidity with which the facts are 
presented and for its width of view. The object which the authors have in 
view, and their facts and suggestions, should certainly be in the hands not only 
of social reformers but of all electors who wish to form a judgment on the sub- 
ject." — Literature. 

' ' Were we asked to name the book of the year on domestic poHtics — that is to 
say, the book of most urgent national importance — we should without hesita- 
tion name this unpretentious survey of a problem which is at once the despair 
and disgrace of British public men. Here, at least, is a survey of the problem 
which, were it mastered by the electorate and through them by members ot 
Parliament, must bring order out of present chaos and make England a 
cleaner, sweeter place to live in. Let every organisation that works for the 
betterment of our social life make it the business of the next year to put 
Members of Parliament through a test examination upon this book, and more 

179 



78o OPINIONS OF THE PRESS 

will be done to promote temperance reform in twelve months than the whole 
Victorian era has accomplished." — Outlook. 

" It is a careful rdsumd qHblOXs, and states the position from the temperance 
point of \iew completely and i2xx\Y.''— Spectator. 

' ' The book as a whole, with its well-ordered array of facts and its well- 
digested statistics, will be welcomed as a thoroughly practical treatise, and one 
of the most important of recent additions to the hteratureof this very complex 
suhiect."—Gt as^ow Herald. 

"The present volume is a storehouse of information on the subject, the result 
of the most laborious study of the question in its various aspects. The country 
may not be prepared for reforms so drastic as those proposed by Mr. Rown- 
tree and Mr. Sherwell, but it would do well to give them careful attention. 
They deser\'e attention, since they are the result of careful study and are 
temperately set ior\h:'—Scots7nan. 

' ' Temperance and land reformers, Socialists, and all who in any capacity 
work for the common good, will find excellent facilities for increased study ot 
complex Hfe in this work." — Dundee Advertiser. 

' ' A valuable original contribution to the; literature of the question. " — Glasgow 
Evening Nevos. 

" One of the most logical and con\1ncing books upon the great drink ques- 
tion that has appeared within recent years." — Liverpool Daily Post. 

" Is likely to attract a considerable number of readers amongst the friends 
and advocates of social progress." — Daily Nation. 

"A remarkable book." — Leeds Mercury. 

"The book makes a real contribution, not only to the armoury of the 
temperance ad%-ocate, but to the equipment of the sociologist and the states- 
man. " — Bradford Observer. 

' ' The volume before as will, if we mistake not, contribute ver}^ largely to 
some solution of the temperance problem, and exercise a very forcible influence 
for social reform. " — New Age. 

" The arguments of the authors, and indeed their whole book, deserve the 
careful attention of all temperance reformers who desire to base themselves on 
the grounds of fact and experience." — Aberdeen Free Press. 

"An excellent practical handbook on the entire question, deaUng with it 
statistically and philosophically, from the points of view of the economist, 
legislator, and moral reformer." — Observer. 

"A veritable treasury of argument has been gathered for the service of 
reformers."— 5c?«M Wales Daily News. 

" The most exhaustive and the most reliable treatise 'on the temperance ques- 
tion that has yet appeared.'' — Nezucastle Leader. 

"Will come to be regarded as the standard work on the temperance ques- 
tion. "—5/^zV/^j Daily Gazette. 

"Their book can honestly be recommended to every one who is working or 
dreaming in the cause of social progress." — Sheffield Independent. 

"The volume is a perfect mine of information, and, as we have already indi- 
cated, is one of the most important contributions to the discussion of the social 
problem which it treats." — North British Daily Mail. 

"This book is one of the best contributions on the much-vexed question ot 
rational temperance reform that have appeared." — Yorkshire Herald. 



OPINIONS OF THE PRESS 781 

' ' No greater service can be rendered to the community than a careful and 
exhaustive inquiry into the actual conditions of any pressing social question 
and its relation to the general life of the nation. This is what Mr. Rowntree 
ind Mr. Sherwell have done for the temperance problem. In their book they 
have set forth the results of a careful and thorough investigation into all aspects 
of the drink question. They have spared neither time nor trouble to arrive at 
accurate and rehable facts and figures. They have approached the subject 
from the point of view of the scientific investigator who desires to discover the 
essential facts of the problem, and not with any preconceived theory for which 
they hoped to find supporting evidence. ... A book which will un- 
doubtedly be ranked as one of the most important contributions to the 
discussion of the temperance problem that has yet been published." — Review 
of Reviews. 

" Few contributions to the study of social questions that we can remember 
have provided so much food for reflection, or so much solid information, as 
the closely packed pages in which they have compressed the results of their 
investigations into the temperance problem." — Gtiardian. 

" It is perhaps the completest, and certainly one of the ablest, works on the 
great drink question that has ever appeared." — Literary World. 

"Is brimful of carefully collected facts, thoughtful arguments, and wise 
suggestions. In short, it is a book not only for the temperance worker, but for 
the social reformer ; and for all who are interested in such matters its import- 
ance and value can hardly be too highly estimated." — Bookseller. 

' ' A work which should be epoch-making if its facts and proposals receive 
the attention they deserve." — Christian World. 

"No book of the kind has ever met with a more remarkable reception. 
, , . The case for temperance has never before been stated more dispas- 
sionately, never been supported with more conclusive evidence, . . . Any 
scheme backed by such insight and moderation is deserving of most careful 
consideration." — The British Weekly. 

' ' The most practical, sensible, and feasible attempt yet made to solve the 
most difficult and dangerous problem at the present moment confronting 
English public Ufe." — Methodist Recorder. 

" Cannot but have a far-reaching effect." — Christian Million. 

' ' I am not sure that this book will not mark a new era in the history of 
the struggle against the drink traffic." — "Watchman" in Sunday School 
Chronicle. 

"Any friend of temperance who wishes to exhaustively study the subject, 
should consult this excellent work." — Church Family Newspaper. 

" We wish to say in the most decisive manner, that a copy of this book 
should be in the possession of every earnest and serious man. It promises to 
be epoch-making." — Free Church Chronicle. 

"We heartily commend the book to all who are interested in the solution 
of social questions and the amelioration of the conditions of the poor." — 
Baptist. 

"We commend this book to the careful attention, not only of temperance 
reformers, but all who wish to see something done to reduce intemperance in 
the land." — Baptist Times. 

" A comprehensive, lucid, and masterly statement." — The Friend. 



782 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS 

' ' The most important contribution to temperance literature made for many 
a year." — Free Methodist. 

" Should be of quite epoch-making significance in the history of the temper. 
ance movement." — British Friend. 

"A very valuable work on the drink traffic." — Scottish Reformer. 

" One of the fullest and most interesting studies of the drink question and 
of temperance legislation that has yet appeared. The book will attract atten- 
tion, and may mark a decided step in the temperance movement." — Alliance 
News. 

" Nothing but good can come of so admirable a discussion, and the book 
will henceforth be indispensable to all who wish to speak in public on the 
question." — League Journal. 

' ' We leave this book with a renewed expression of our opinion of its value 
as an earnest attempt to find in legislation a practical remedy for an admittedly 
gigantic evil." — Temperance Record. 

"Our readers will do well to get a sight of the book for themselves and give 
it that attentive perusal which, whatever they may think of its proposals, it 
unquestionably deserves." — The Good Templars' Watchword. 

Rev. Charles Garrett: — "This book will be of immense value to the 
temperance cause, for it is a wonderful storehouse of temperance information. 
Its plan for grappling with and destroying our national curse appears to me to 
be admirable. I have long felt the unwisdom of attempting to accomplish the 
impossible. If it were possible, I would, at all costs, sweep the drink traffic 
away for ever, but I have hitherto seen no way in which this could be accom- 
plished in my time. This book, however, opens before me 'a door of hope.' 
There are two ways of taking a fortress — one is by assault, the other by sapping 
and mining. This book suggests both ways of dealing with the traffic ; first, 
by bringing local veto into operation wherever it can be successfully appUed, 
and, having thus taken the outworks, it shows how the citadel itself can be 
undermined and taken. Every step seems to me to be in the right direction, 
and I heartily trust that no prejudice will be allowed to block the way." 

Rev. John Clifford, D.D. : — "The appearance of this book is surely one 
of the best ' signs of the times. ' Every patriotic citizen should read it, and 
read it at once, and seek to promote legislation along the lines it suggests." 

Rev. Canon Barnett, Warden of Toynbee Hall :—" Messrs. Rowntree 
and Sherwell show the overwhelming danger which threatens our common- 
wealth in sober language, and suggest a remedy acceptable to sober people." 

Mr. G. J. HOLYOAKE : — "The most practical, the most readable, and most 
informing book on the temperance question I have seen." 

Rev. Mark Guy Pearse : — " I feel most deeply that the suggested solution 
has laid down the lines on which our deUverance from this vast evil must 
come." 

Canon Scott Holland : — " This book lays down admirably the position 
which every sane man is bound to accept. . . . The book's conclusion is 
most clear, intelligible, and practical. . . . The whole scheme is perfectly 
practicable to-morrow. It rests on unanswerable reasons for the intervention 
of the State. It meets the broad human needs and it assimilates the clearest 
teachings of experience. It combines those who are passionately bent on re- 



OPINIONS OF THE PRESS 783 

stricting the evil and those who deem this futile so long as social conditions 
are untouched." 

Mr. Keir-Hardie :— " It is no figure of speech to say that this volume 
marks the beginning of a new epoch of the temperance movement. I cordially 
thank the authors for having brought temperance reform within the sphere of 
the practicable." 

Lady Henry Somerset : — "We are on the eve now of a struggle which 
will probably be the decisive one, but which will be fierce and prolonged. At 
this point, therefore, it seems to me of supreme importance that the temperance 
forces should unite. Too long they have been severed and weakened by differ- 
ences which I believe must be overcome before their attack can be efficient, and 
it is for this reason that I, in accordance with many others, hail the appearance 
of a remarkable book, which is the most valuable addition to the literature ot 
the temperance cause that, to my mind, has yet been given — I mean the book 
called • The Temperance Problem and Social Reform,' by Mr. Joseph Rown- 
tree and Mr. Arthur Sherwell." 

Dean Farrar : — "I have read Messrs. Rowntree and Sherwell's 'Tem- 
perance Reform' with great interest. It is a careful and valuable work." 

Canon Wilberforce : — ' ' Without endorsing all the conclusions arrived at, 
I consider Messrs. Rowntree and Sherwell's book a most valuable contribution 
towards the solution of the greatest social problem of oiu- day, and I trust that 
it will be widely read and studied." 

Rev. Hugh Price Hughes : — " These thoroughly competent experts, after 
prolonged personal investigation at home and abroad, have made the best 
statement of the problem that has yet been printed, . . . We greet its 
appearance with gratitude : it is by far the most valuable and useful book on 
the whole temperance problem that has been published. , . . We are con- 
vinced that the method suggested by Mr. Rovmtree and Mr. Sherwell is the 
only practical method of dealing with this gigantic evil in the towns and cities 
of Great Britain." 

Canon Hicks, of Manchester :—" Yours is the weightiest book I have ever 
read on the temperance question. Your statement of the case for permissive 
prohibition is all the more convincing because you are not so enamoured of it, 
as some of us are, as the chief re medy for the terrible drink evil. Especially 
do I thank you for pointing out so clearly the obvious dangers that beset the 
cruder proposals for municipalising the drink traffic. The positive proposals 
of your volume deserve the most careful attention, and may form a basis of 
union for all advanced temperance reformers." 

Rev. F. B. Meyer : — " The publication of this book, as I venture to think, 
will date an epoch in the history of the temperance movement, I have read 
and pondered it with profound interest, and am convinced that the conclusions 
to which the authors have come afford a working basis for the ultimate solution 
of the vexed problem of the Uquor traffic. The lucidity of the style, the 
judicial calm in which the various questions are discussed, and the careful 
arrangement of statistics are simply admirable." 

Rev. J. Monro Gibson, D.D. :— " The reading of this admirable book has 
kindled in me a new hope for the future of temperance reform. Nowhere else 
have I seen the terrible facts so skilfully marshalled, or the remedies so care- 
fully examined. The suggestions which it throws out for united action seem 



784 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS 

to me to be such as to commend themselves to all who realize the necessity of 
the friends of temperance acting together and acting at once." 

Rev. C. F. Aked : — "This fine book aims, as you know, at the creation of 
a platform broad enough to include all friends of temperance and all who are 
working for social reform. ... I have argued for years against every form 
of municipalisation. I have denounced it in a hundred towns. But Messrs. 
Rowntree and Sherwell's scheme has met all the objections which I have ever 
urged, and for the first time we are presented with a plan which the sworn 
prohibitionist can adopt without compromise of deep conviction, and without 
fear of ultimate danger and loss." 



Butler & Tanner, The Selwood Printing Works Frome, and London. 



